Wayne Womack

Wayne Womack (January 18, 1929 - December 2, 2014) was an American politician and real estate agent who became the first Mayor of Novato, California, upon the city's incorporation in 1960. Womack served as Novato's mayor for two two-year tenures: 1960 until 1962 and again from 1966 to 1968. He remained a member of the Novato City Council until 1972. He was the middle child of his parents' five children.<ref name=nadvance/> The family moved from Oklahoma to southern California in the spring of 1939 in the aftermath of a poor 1937 crop yield from their farm during the Dust Bowl.<ref namenadvance/> Womach married his wife, Colleen, in 1948.<ref namemarinij/>
Career
Womack and his family moved to Novato, California, in 1951 where he began his career as a banker.<ref namemarinij/> He initially worked as a manager at the First National Bank, located at Grant and Machin avenues in downtown Novato.<ref namemarinij/> Womack then headed the credit department for the local Pini Hardware store. He opened Womack's Variety Store, located in the Town & Country shopping center on Grant Avenue, in 1957.<ref namemarinij/><ref namemarinij2/>
He joined the Novato Rotary Club in 1956, and remained active for 58 years, including a tenure as the chapter's president in 1972.<ref namemarinij/> In 1968, he founded and opened Womack Realty, which he operated until his retirement in 1995.<ref namemarinij/>
Political career
In 1960, Wayne Womack, who had no political experience up to this point, ran for the newly formed Novato City Council.<ref namemarinij2/> He won the election as the top vote-getter out of a group of 27 candidates for city council.<ref namemarinij/> When Novato was incorporated in 1960, Womack was elected as the city's first mayor by the city council during the council's inaugural meeting.<ref name=marinij/> Womack, who was 31 years old in 1960, became the youngest mayor in the state of California at the time.<ref namemarinij2/> Bob Lagle served as Novato's first city planning director alongside Womack.<ref namemarinij2/>
Womack also served as the president of the Novato Chamber of Commerce in 1960.<ref namemarinij/><ref namemarinij2/>
Womack served as Novato's first mayor from 1960 to 1962. He declined to seek re-election to the city council in 1962 after two years as mayor.<ref name=marinij/> Instead, Womack chose to run for Marin County Supervisor.<ref namemarinij/> However, Womack was defeated by incumbent county supervisor Bill Gnoss.<ref namemarinij/> Womack returned to city politics and won re-elected to the Novato City Council in 1964.<ref namemarinij/> He served as a second tenure as Mayor of Novato from 1966 to 1968.<ref namemarinij/> He retired from the city council in 1972.<ref name=marinij/>
In 2010, Womack expressed some regret concerning some of Novato's planning and building decisions, both during his era as an elected official and afterwards.<ref name=marinij2/> A number of shopping centers have been constructed throughout Novato, but this trend hurt the formation of a dense, downtown shopping district.<ref namemarinij2/> He also recalled that one of Novato's master plans from the late 1960s proved to be incorrect.<ref namemarinij2/> The 1960s study incorrectly predicted that the San Marin, CaliforniaSan Marin section of Novato would eventually become a separate municipality, while Novato's population would rise to 175,000 people (By contrast, Novato's population was slightly more than 52,000 people by the city's 50th anniversary in 2010).<ref name=marinij2/>
He became President of the Marin Association of Realtors in 1976. In 1980, Womack was honored as Novato Citizen of the Year.<ref name=marinij/>

Former Mayor Womack attended the city's 50th anniversary celebration on January 20, 2010, to mark the establishment of Novato.<ref namemarinij2/> He and other dignitaries were honored by the Novato City Council.<ref namemarinij2/> In a 2010 interview marking Novato's 50th anniversary, councilwoman and then-Mayor Jeanne MacLeamy called Womack, "...the perfect first mayor...He is remembered as a respected and well-liked leader by ... many Novato residents."<ref name=marinij/>
During the 2000s, Womack divided his time between his home, located near the Marin Country Club in Ignacio, California, and his condo in Maui, where he and his wife resided for 4 to 5 months per year.<ref namemarinij2/> Wayne Womack died from pneumonia at a hospital on December 2, 2014, at the age of 85.<ref namemarinij/> He was survived by five children - Craig Womack, Matthew Womack, Diane Michaelis, Elaine Womack, and Jennifer Kelley; eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.<ref name=marinij/> His wife of 48 years, Colleen Womack, died on October 21, 2014.

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