By Christin Evans, HANC Board
On July 2nd in Colma at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, friends & family gathered to honor and remember long-time UPS driver Wayne Chan. It had been two weeks since Michael Lefiti, Benson Louie and Wayne were shot by a co-worker at the UPS distribution facility on San Bruno Ave.
Many Haight-Ashbury residents and merchants knew Wayne as the friendly and cheerful UPS driver who had delivered packages to the neighborhood for more than a decade. The SF Chronicle article said that Wayne had worked for UPS for 28 years and spent at least half that time on the “Cole Valley-Haight route.” Fresh with the shock of the news,, Kent Uyehara, owner of FTC, erected a temporary memorial outside of his shop and neighbors brought flowers and wrote notes of remembrance.
One neighbor wrote, “Words fail me in properly describing how Wayne's horrific death has affected me. I can't believe that I won't see his smiling face again. What a tragedy.” Another, “I find my tears come in waves. I keep thinking I will see him again before I remind myself what's happened. We will miss you Wayne. Thinking of your family at this difficult time.”
Nearly every weekday Wayne would park his big brown truck in front of The Booksmith around 11 am and deliver our store’s 40 or so heavy boxes filled with books. We would visit but usually briefly because he was always in motion loading up his cart and on to the next stop. He’d share his upcoming vacation plans and tell us when he’d be taking time off to do some home renovations. It always seemed to me that he really placed value on his family and home time.
At the memorial service, the driver of the local Heineken truck told me that he and Wayne would sometimes rest to take a smoke break and chat. He said they spoke recently about Wayne’s hope for an upcoming retirement. One of Wayne’s cousins who stopped by the street recently to visit with merchants said that Wayne really loved his job. Kent from FTC said, “I used to tell everybody all the time: the best thing about UPS is Wayne. No disrespect to the company, but that’s how big a difference that guy made.” Wayne, we will miss you! Sending your family our thoughts and love!
Note: Stannous Flouride has made buttons and Free Gold Watch has made stickers which say “Never Forget Wayne” both of which can be picked up in their store at 1767 Waller Street. A memorial fund for Wayne’s wife & children has been set up online at https://www.gofundme.com/wayne-chan-ups. An account has also been set up at Wells Fargo under the name, Tina Chang (In Memory of Wayne Chan), account #1093144903 if you would like to make a contribution.