Country singer Loretta Lynn’s ranch work boss was not due to work Saturday when she was dragged to her death by water that grew on the Tennessee star’s property, DailyMail.com reveals.
Wayne Spears, 70, is one of 22 people killed in catastrophic floods that fell after 17 inches of rain in parts of the state over a 24-hour period.
The ranch worker was pictured moments before his death clinging to a beam on Lynn’s ranch in Hurricane Mills after being trapped in running water while checking his equipment.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Wayne’s widow, Louise Spears, described what turned out to be the couple’s final moment together, just one week away from their 43rd wedding anniversary.
He said Wayne had woken up early that morning to make sure everything on the ranch was okay after the previous night had been hit by torrential rain.
Louise Spears (pictured) described her husband Wayne’s last moments in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com
The 70-year-old ranch foreman (pictured left with Loretta Lynn) died after being swept away by rising water on Saturday while checking out his equipment at the country singer’s Hurricane Mills ranch in Tennessee.
This distressing photo shows Wayne Spears moments before he was swept away until his death during a flood that affected the singer’s property
“He came home and was shocked,” Louise told DailyMail.com. “He said, ‘You won’t believe it, all this rain we’ve had, there was no water out of the stream, nothing, everything’s fine.’
So he sat down to breakfast, a rarity for him. She made him a microwave with a sausage, an egg and a Jimmy Dean cheese cookie.
“He asked me why he had those who brought cheese because I know he doesn’t like cheese,” he laughed. “And I said take it out for me when you eat it.”
“It was still raining,” he noted. “That’s when I remember him saying, ‘I’ll be back again to see how things are up there, to check the tractor.’
He asked me if I wanted to go with him and I said no, it’s raining. And he came over, kissed me and told me I’ll be back a bit.
It would be the last time I would see him.
As of Tuesday morning, at least 22 people have died and ten more are missing as a result of the catastrophic flood.
Among the killings were two seven-month-old twins and a mother who drowned while broadcasting the chaos live on Facebook.
Wayne, who had worked on the ranch for 18 years, jumped on his tractor around 11 a.m. when water was just gathering under his wheels, said Anthony Brutto, grandson and director of Lynn’s ranch.
Louise said her husband returned after visiting the property that early in the morning, but decided to go out in the rain a second time and never returned. Pictured: Wayne Spears family members Mandi Wertman, 34, Jack Spears, 67, Louise Spears and Denise Spears, 45, on the Loretta Lynn ranch
Recalling her last moments together, Louise said Wayne kissed her and said she would come back “a little” before going out in the rain.
Wayne and his wife have 11 children combined, many of whom stayed in the huts while preparing for a funeral on Wednesday.
Suddenly, the floods rushed. The wheels floated in rising water and the heavy tractor fell.
Wayne grabbed a beam from a nearby structure before it was swept away until his death.
“It was like breaking a dike,” Brutto told DailyMail.com. “Instead of a gradual increase, it became a wall of water.”
“It’s like the water just bottled up somewhere and it all happened at once,” Louise explained.
She spent all day Saturday parked in her Jeep overlooking the countryside where rescuers searched for her missing husband.
A tornado clock forced it to be temporarily postponed and night fell without a trace. It was not until the next day that his body recovered.
On Monday at the ranch and Huracane Mills campsite, the battered red tractor was left resting beside it in an open field with rapidly rising debris that killed at least 22 people across the region.
Several uprooted trees had been felled next to a stream, the remnants of a flood that had subsided.
Nearby, Wayne’s family members gathered at the campsite, having flown from Florida and Texas.
He and his wife have 11 children together, many of whom stayed in the huts while preparing for a funeral on Wednesday.
The service will be held at a nearby church, after which Wayne’s body will be transported by a horse-drawn wagon to the ranch where he will be buried in the singer’s private cemetery.
Pictured: Loretta Lynn’s ranch following the storm. Louise said she spent Saturday parked in her Jeep overlooking the countryside where rescuers searched for her missing husband
Demolished trees and debris were strewn across an open field Monday after swift waters killed at least 22 people over the weekend.
Several uprooted trees had been felled next to a stream, the remnants of a flood that had subsided
Run by Lynn’s granddaughter, Tayla, it offers camping, fishing, hiking and an all-terrain vehicle park.
“This was unexpected, but at least he didn’t suffer, and this is where he would have liked to have been,” said his younger brother Jack Spears, a resident of Fort Worth, Texas, who also lived and worked on the ranch.
“We’re all like a family here.”
Lynn, 89, who lives on the property, took to Facebook on Sunday to announce Wayne’s tragic death.
“Wayne has been a friend of the Lynn family and a Ranch apparatus for decades and we are all devastated by his passing,” he wrote.
“The ranch will never be the same without him, but he will always be remembered for his prepared smile, his kind heart and his willingness to make an extra effort for everyone around him.”
The property is run by Lynn’s granddaughter, Tayla, and offers camping, fishing, hiking and an all-terrain vehicle park.
“All I can tell you is that Loretta is the best woman I’ve ever met in my life,” Louise told DailyMail.com.
Lynn, 89, who lives on the property, took to Facebook on Sunday to announce the tragic death of Wayne
Wayne jumped on the tractor around 11 a.m. when the water was just pooling under the wheels. It was later surrounded by rising waters
“Wayne was bigger than life,” Brutto said as she sat down with Louise in the welcome pavilion Monday.
When you think of cowboys, you think of John Wayne and other types of guys. This was literally him. He was just a man of man you could look at and feel proud to meet him.
“For me personally, he was like a second father to me,” he added. ‘He taught me how to do electrical work, carpentry and plumbing, and he gave me life tips when I wanted to and when I didn’t want to.
He was a direct shooter. He was someone who always told you the truth.
“She’s one of those people – she didn’t think you could kill him,” he said, choking as he described the sudden flood that ended his life.
“It was a flood every 500 years, the perfect storm of all the events that happen at once.”
“Really, I still haven’t accepted it even though I know it’s real,” Louise Spears said. “I’m incredulous.”
Wayne had worked on the ranch for 18 years and was described as a “friend of the Lynns family and a rancher for decades.”
He woke up three times during the night on Friday and looked outside to see all the rain, which was falling so hard he couldn’t even see his Jeep parked outside.
Her husband had planned to stay home.
“He had just gotten up, his coffee and all, and he said he was just going to check things out,” he said.
She is grateful that she has returned home, even for a while.
“I just say it to everyone – love your loved ones and never leave angry because you never know what the next moment will bring,” he said.