Lou Wegman

David Louis “Lou” Wegman, 93, passed away on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the SECU Crystal Coast Hospice House in Newport, NC. Born in St. Petersburg, Florida on October 28, 1932, he was the son of Louis E. and Mary E. Wegman.

Respecting Lou’s wishes, no formal services will be held.

Throughout his formative years growing up in the Tampa–St. Petersburg area, Lou fished every chance he got, finding the love of the water that would shape the rest of his life. He graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1950 and left the area to enlist in the United States Coast Guard, where he served as a radio operator, completing a deployment aboard the destroyer escort USCGC Ramsden (WDE-482). After a brief period in the United States Navy Reserve as a diesel boat submariner, he joined the United States Air Force, where he proudly served for 22 years, retiring as a Master Sergeant and KC-135 Boom Operator. Throughout multiple extended deployments to Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, he earned numerous individual and unit citations, including the USAF Air Medal with combat “V,” multiple deployment ribbons, and Air Force Commendation and Achievement Medals.

Following his military retirement in 1972, he earned his realtor’s license and sold real estate with Whis Realty in Goldsboro and Eaton’s Ferry Estates in Littleton, NC. In 1978, Lou graduated from Wayne Community College with a degree in Fish & Wildlife Management. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he served as a Sergeant with the NC Department of Corrections at both the Maury Correctional Institution and Central Prison in Raleigh.

In 1984, Lou moved to the coast, where he could fully pursue his love of the water. He held a USCG Captain’s license and was an avid freshwater and saltwater offshore fisherman who fished his entire life, owning several boats and entertaining friends and family on fishing trips aboard them. During the 1990s he managed the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier. A lifelong radio enthusiast, Lou was an advanced licensed amateur radio operator who used the call sign “KD4CT” for many years.

Lou was preceded in death by his parents, Louis E. and Mary E. Wegman; his wife of 64 years, Evelyn J. Wegman; and his son, Scott E. Wegman, who died in 1988; and his brothers, Phillip D. Wegman and John Wayne Wegman.

He is survived by his wife, Martha B. Wegman; his children, Theresa Caldwell (Mark), Cynthia Salter (Van), Michael Wegman (Carolyn), Mark Wegman, Robert Wegman (Judith), and Deborah Tabor; his stepdaughter, Shannon Bishop, and her son, Jack; ten grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

Lou’s legacy remains one of duty, service, and a devotion to the outdoors, where he thrived.

Condolences and life tributes may be sent to the family at www.noebrooks.net

Arrangements by Noe-Brooks Funeral Home & Crematory of Morehead City, NC.