Wayne Ray Sullins, 83 of Springfield, was born on December 29, 1931 in Lebanon, MO to Seba Ray and Maggie Pearl (Brown) Sullins. He passed away on September 20, 2015.

He married Shirley Crow on December 24, 1955 and was a long time educator and noted photographer. He had his Master''s Degree in Education from Drury and Specialist Degree in School Administration from the University of Arkansas. Wayne was an Air Force Veteran and his hobbies were hunting, fishing, canoeing, photography and sharing stories of all his adventures.

Wayne was preceded in death by his parents; a grandson, Perry Clay McClenahan and a sister, Delores Sullins.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley Sullins of Springfield; 3 sisters, Maxine Collis, Ruth Pyle and Alice Misner all of Springfield; son, Mike Sullins and wife Cindy of Springfield; daughter, Barbara McClenahan and husband Clay of Lebanon; 3 grandchildren, Amy Davis and husband Clint, John Sullins and wife Brittany and Katie McClenahan and boyfriend Colt Campbell; 5 great grandchildren, William Davis, Ellie Davis, Clara Davis, Lucy Sullins and the 5th due to be born February 14th and a host of family and friends.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, September 24, 2015 from 6 till 8 p.m. at Klingner-Cope Family Funeral Home at White Chapel, 5234 W State Hwy EE (Division). Graveside service will be on Friday, September 25, 2015 at 10:00 am in White Chapel Memorial Gardens with Chaplain Glyn Davies officiating.

Online condolences may be made to www.klingnerfuneralhome.com

A note from a grandkid:
Grandpa loved stories. He told stories through his photography and his books. He love to investigate stories like our family history. But the stories I remember best are the ones about us.

Like the one where I learned to potty outside and then stomped all the little ants, that weren't actually ants. Or the time John asked to have a straw cut in a crowded restaurant only to scream "my daddy's got a big ole knife!" at the top of his lungs when dad pulled out his pocketknife to comply. Or how Katie ate the hair off her Raggedy Ann doll and turned her poop bright red to scare her babysitter to death. And how when Perry learned to pee in the river, he couldn't do it discreetly but had to stand on the bank in front of all the swimmers to pee into the water.

He told these and many other stories over and over and over again. And I remember being a teenager and sometimes just nodding and smiling while he told them, because we've all heard them hundreds of times. But I don't think it was just about the stories. You see, time goes on and people change, but the stories bind our family together. They are love. They claimed us and his and as a part of the Sullins clan no matter how far we went or how much we changed.

Grandpa changed a lot over the last year. But no matter how much he changed or how far he's gone, our stories and memories now bind him to us. Like the time my son was beyond tired, screaming and crying, exhausted after his first birthday party, and grandpa said "you bring tat baby to me." And they sat in the chair and rocked. And I took my very favorite picture of him and Will after they both fell asleep. Or the time he let Katie put stick on earrings on him, and then forgot about them when he went to the mall and ran into people he knew. He always used to tell me that grandma had just bailed him out of the Texas County Jail. And he was affectionately known as "That Handsome Devil." And how he trapped possum, and raccoon and called hoot owls for us whenever we came to visit, He was a wonderful grandpa and I'll always be grateful he was mine.