Wayne Derald Bratlien

July 18, 1931 - July 31, 2022

MURRIETTA, CA — Wayne passed away peacefully on July 31, 2022 – two weeks after his 91st birthday. He said he wanted to make it to 91, because he didn’t want everyone to have to say “he was 90 & 3/4”.

He was born July 18,1931 in Williston, North Dakota to Josephine and George Bratlien, the fifth of their seven children. Wayne was very proud of his Norwegian ancestry. He is predeceased by siblings Leonard, Phyllis, Mavis, Avis, Robert and Joann, and survived by his youngest sister, Marie (Jay) Lozano.

When Wayne was three, his mother moved him and his siblings to Chicago. He met his first wife, Charlotte at a school dance and they married and had six children. He was a successful real estate broker in Chicago, but in 1964 decided that he wanted to leave the cold winters and humid summers behind, so he moved his family to the San Fernando Valley in California. In 1968 the family moved to La Jolla, which was the “perfect” place Wayne had envisioned when he thought of California. He continued selling real estate throughout San Diego, with a huge referral business earned by treating his clients like family. He really enjoyed helping people purchase their homes, and because of that he proudly said that in his 60 year career he’d “never had a bad year in real estate”. Wayne never let challenging real estate cycles affect his positive attitude.

Wayne met Gloria, “the love of his life”, when he sold her parents a house. They were married for over 40 years. During that time they had a daughter, and Wayne also helped raise Gloria’s two children from a previous marriage. Gloria was his loving and patient caregiver for the last 5 ½ years of his life.

Wayne had a great sense of humor - he loved to laugh, and always enjoyed a good joke. Every day was a “World of Wonderfulism” for Wayne.

Wayne is survived by his wife Gloria, children Craig (Winnie) Bratlien, Cheryl (Dennis) Mayville, Janice (John) Sbicca, Brian (Mark) Bratlien, Sr. Mary Rose Bratlien, Geralyn (Ross) Jaramillo.

Venice (Simon) Firsht, and Joseph (Junita) Tripp. He was predeceased by Myisha (Tripp) Balke. He is also survived by 17 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.

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