Wilson Wayne Punshon

Wilson Wayne Punshon, 80, of Broomall, a lawyer who worked in the district attorney’s offices in Dauphin and Delaware counties and later in private practice, died March 22 after a long illness.

Mr. Punshon, who was known as Wayne, was born on April 15, 1944, in Kingston, Pa., to Roberta Jean (Roselle) and Wilson William Punshon. This was during World War II, and his father was then in the Army at Camp Polk, La. The elder Punshon later served in Europe as a captain.

After the war, the family moved to Hatboro, Pa., and Wayne graduated from Hatboro-Horsham High School in 1962 and from Temple University in 1967. He then enrolled in the  Navy officer candidate school in Rhode Island. Commissioned as an ensign, he served on the destroyer Vogelgesang and was promoted to lieutenant junior grade. After his Navy service, Wayne studied law at Temple University and completed his juris doctor degree in 1973.

In 1974, Wayne joined the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office in Harrisburg. In 1980, he moved to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office in Media, where he worked 17 years and directed the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) Program to help first-time offenders avoid permanent criminal records. Later, Wayne opened his own law practice, where he argued a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

As a singer, Wayne joined The Savoy Company, the Ardensingers, the Footlighters Theater, the Main Line Opera Guild, and the Rose Valley Chorus.  He performed with the Savoy Company at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate, England, and Gettysburg, Pa. He also was an avid skier and sailor.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Mary (Spangler) Punshon of Broomall; his sister, Roberta Jean (Punshon) Burch of Horsham; a niece Dawn (Burch) Word and nephew Kevin Burch, both of Sterling, VA, a stepson, Benjamin Loukota, and Ben’s wife, Alison (Woody) Loukota, and a step-grandson, Theodore Loukota, all of King of Prussia.

A memorial service will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at the Lower Merion Baptist Church, 911 New Gulph Road, Bryn Mawr. Visitation will be at 2 p.m. The service will be conducted by the church’s pastor, Rev. Angel Pagán Jr.