Former RVDA president Wayne Peay passed away from natural causes Jan. 16 at his home in Corrales, New Mexico. He was 93-years-old.
Peay served as the association’s president from 1980 to 1981. He was always connected with the outdoors and the RV lifestyle, RVDA stated. In 1975, he sold his 20-year orthodontics practice and purchased an RV dealership, deemed Wayne’s Recreational Vehicles.
“To those of you who touched his life, he thanks you, and we, his family, thank you,” the Peay family said. “And to those whose lives he touched, we hope his mentorship, encouragement and friendship helped in some way along your journey.”
Peay and his wife Marilyn married in 1950 and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he attended dental school and later completed orthodontics training in Seattle. The pair then arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he and Marilyn established an orthodontist practice and raised five children.
He loved the outdoors and often took the Peay family fishing at mountain lakes in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, RVDA stated. An Airstream travel trailer was his first unit. The association said the family’s two oldest kids slept outside in a tent because there wasn’t enough room inside, which inspired Peay to trade the travel trailer for a fold-down camping trailer a few years later.
RVDA stated Peay operated his dealership until his retirement in 1991, and during those years made many lasting friendships with other key dealers and their spouses.
Peay is survived by his wife, son and three daughters. He is preceded in death by his daughter.
