Philomena Catherine (Yochem) Wayne

Philomena "Phil" (Yochem) Wayne died on January 13, 2018, in New Albany, Indiana. She was born on February 9, 1920, in New Albany. At age 11 her family moved to St. Joe Hill, Indiana. She was an alumna of St. Mary School in New Albany and St. Joe Hill School. She worked her way through Ladywood High School in Indianapolis, before she pursued her vocation as a nurse at Nazareth School of Nursing (Spalding University) at St. Joseph Infirmary in Louisville, class of 1941.

She married Joseph E. Wayne, Jr., in 1942. During World War II she accompanied him to Army Air Corps training sites in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and California as he prepared to pilot B-24 Bombers in the South Pacific. At each stateside location she practiced nursing in military and civilian hospitals.

After the war she and her husband settled in South Louisville, where they started a family, eventually moving to Hamburg, Indiana, in 1950 where they raised five sons. She continued to practice her vocation in hospitals in Louisville, Southern Indiana and Crossville, Tennessee. She was director of nursing at Hillcrest Nursing Home in Jeffersonville and Providence Retirement Home in New Albany. In 1996 Spalding University awarded her the Leadership in Nursing Award for Nursing Practice.

Upon retirement she volunteered at Cumberland County Medical Center in Crossville, Tennessee for 25 years. She returned to Hamburg in 2007 where she volunteered at Providence Retirement Home until age 92.

She was a devout Catholic and a member of St. John Paul II Church, where she served as a Eucharistic Minister, charter member of the parish council, and member of the first religious education faculty.

She is preceded in death by her husband; her parents, John Jacob Yochem and Agnes Christian Yochem; son, Jeffrey M. Wayne; brother Joseph W. Yochem; and sister Helen M. Blessinger.

She is survived by four sons, Joe Wayne (Donna Riley) of Lanesville, Indiana, Jack Wayne (Barbara) of Starlight, Indiana, Jim Wayne (Debbie) of Louisville, Kentucky, and Jerry Wayne (Jody) of Starlight, Indiana; ten grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; sisters Mary Hutchens and Rita Boehm, both of New Albany; and dozens of nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be at St. John Paul II Church, St. Joe Hill Chapel, 2605 West St. Joe Road, Sellersburg, Indiana, at 11:00 a.m. (ET) on January 19, 2018, with burial to follow at St. Joe Hill Campus Cemetery. Visitation will be at Newcomer Funeral Home, 3309 Ballard Lane, New Albany, from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, January 18, with a rosary at 4:30 and a celebration of her life at 7:00 p.m.

Expressions of sympathy may be made to Community Catholic Center, P.O. Box 11065, Louisville, Kentucky 40251 to help educate children in Portland and the West End of Louisville.

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