Dustin L. Soden, 42, of Wayne, died Friday, Dec. 22, 2023 at his residence near Wayne.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 28 at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Wayne. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27 at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Wayne. Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery in Wayne.
Memorials may be directed to the Soden family for later designation.
Arrangements are with Hasemann Funeral Home of Wayne.
Dustin Lee Soden was born on July 14, 1981 in Pender to Dick and Bev (Sherer) Soden. He was a graduate of Wayne High School. Dustin was married to Kelli Huetig on July 15, 2006 at the United Methodist Church in Laurel.
Dustin was hard-working, even from a young age. One of his very first jobs was mowing lawns and snow removal for his neighbors. At 14-years-old, he began working part-time at Quality Foods, eventually moving into a full-time manager position after graduation, where he continued to work until February 2006 when he began working at Great Dane. During his employment at Great Dane, Dustin was diagnosed with cancer in December 2006. He took some time off to take treatments and returned to work when in remission. In November 2007 he began working at Wayne State College in the Central Supply position. He was later hired as the Facility Services Manager in 2012 where he worked until his death.
Dustin loved spending time with his family, especially with his wife, Kelli, and two sons, Brody and Kasen. He loved teaching and passing on his knowledge to them. When not doing home DIY projects, they enjoyed spending time with family, friends, and going camping and boating together in the summer months.
Dustin was a car enthusiast throughout his lifetime. He wanted to incorporate his love of cars somehow into his working career, so he attended a week-long tint school in St. Louis, Missouri in 2011 where he learned how to tint vehicle windows. He then started a tinting business named Tint Specialties out of his parents’ garage, later moving the business to a shop at his home residence outside of town. Dustin had big dreams and wanted to relocate his business to an old garage station on Main Street in Wayne. He purchased the property in 2017 and spent many hours fixing up the building before officially moving his business into town where he and his family spent many hours.
Once moving into town, he acquired his dealership license, his business now becoming Tint Specialties & Specialty Rides, and prided himself in being honest and selling high-quality used cars. Dustin also enjoyed passing on his love of cars to others. He played an integral part in organizing Cruise Main in Wayne of what it is today. With some help from others, he spent many hours planning events and bringing in food vendors so that all participants, both drivers and spectators, were able to enjoy the night each month.
Dustin lived and loved hard. He was always cracking jokes and enjoyed making others laugh. Even after he was diagnosed with cancer again in December 2022, he was determined to fight the disease.
Survivors include his wife, Kelli, and their sons, Brody and Kasen; parents, Richard and Beverly Soden of Wayne; brother, Kelly (Amber) Soden of Lincoln; sister, Ashley (Bobby) Young of Wayne; brother, Brady (Megan) Soden of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.; grandmother, Lila Mae Soden of Hartley, Iowa; mother and father-in-law, Scott and Margaret Huetig of Concord; sister-in-law, Kari (Jason) Frauendorfer of Norfolk; nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, Dareld Soden and maternal grandparents, Ralph and Berniece Sherer.
