Before Father Wayne Kamm was an Episcopal priest, he was a Methodist minister. Between ministries, he was a craftsman in a wood-working shop in South Amana, where he specialized in building various styles of rocking chairs. He will not hesitate to tell you, his blue eyes gleaming behind a white beard and hair, that Christ was a carpenter.
Given his background, it wasn’t all that surprising that, while a priest at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Pleasant, he built the steeple for the church. Yep. The church was steepleless. He thought, “The church needs a steeple.” With the help of others, he constructed the steeple on the ground. On a day when the wind didn’t even whisper, they had a local crane operator hoist it to the roof. It was quite a sight, as you can imagine, and the event was recorded on film and in the Mt. Pleasant News.
What only a few people know is that about two years later Father Wayne also made the casket for his dying father. Yep again. His father had cancer and had a few months to live, which gave Wayne the time to construct the coffin.
Wayne’s father was a tough old German, never showing emotion, or feelings, especially love. Consequently, as so often happens, Wayne never felt that love. Wayne’s father was also a woodworker in a door and window factory in Dubuque. Wayne comes by his woodworking skills naturally.
While Wayne’s father was dying, he hugged Wayne and was able to tell Wayne that he loved him. Wayne was so moved that, as a tribute, he decided to build his father’s casket — without his father’s knowledge, of course.
He procured rough cherry wood from a local friend and began planing the wood in his shop in the garage below the rectory. Wayne’s son, Philip, helped. There would be times when they were ankle deep in wood chips and sawdust. One thing that Father Wayne likes about woodworking is that his mind is focused completely on the work, blocking out all other worldly matters.
Wayne made the lid, the handles, the lid stay, and turned the four half-urns on the lathe for corners. With the casket moved up to their living room, Wayne’s wife, Mary, sewed the interior lining. When they were finished, it was a thing of beauty, the cherry wood gleaming under three coats of clear varnish.
Now, the problem was getting the casket to East Dubuque. A friend of Wayne’s, who was a local mortician, offered to transport the casket to the funeral home in a hearse at no charge. While the casket was on display at the funeral home, some people were so impressed, the funeral director said he could have sold it three times over.
Eventually, Wayne’s mother told her husband what Wayne was up to. He was pleased, and she was certain that he would talk to Wayne about it in a subsequent visit. But the subject was never brought up.
At the funeral, it was comforting for Wayne to see his father lying in the casket that he had built. Dad was at rest.
Wayne’s father died at home, which was his wish. People came forward to help care for Wayne’s dad and the family in his last days. A seed was planted in Wayne’s mind.
Six months later, back in Mt. Pleasant, Father Wayne was instrumental in organizing and bringing Hospice to Henry County. Wayne became the chaplain for Hospice, and a fine one he was.
Now retired, Father Wayne still volunteers his time to Hospice by serving as a member of the local Advisory Board of what is now Hospice Care of Central Iowa — the result of what had started out as Hospice of Henry County.
From a boy hunting with his father, tramping through the woods, learning woodworking, working in the local cemetery in the summer, and even working in a funeral home while in college, Wayne has been prepared and led, he feels, to minister to those who are dying, and their families.
God bless you, Father Wayne.