Wayne J. Kanto born in the U.S. a son of Finnish immigrants. At the age of three his father died of the great 1918 pandemic. He was raised in the Arizona mining town of Miami where he studied physics and chemistry in high school. He was also a leather helmet wielding varsity member of the football team.

Prior to the Second World War he constructed roads in the White Mountains through the WPA program. When war was declared on Germany and Japan, he joined the U.S. Army tank destroyer corps and served in Northern Africa and Italy. He achieved the rank of Technical Sergeant and was responsible for radio repairs.

After the war he worked as a draftsman, then as an industrial electrician in potash and copper mines. His expertise was in rewinding and repair of locomotive electric engines. At the mines, he developed an electromagnet to remove broken drill bits from blasting holes.

After being hired at the University of Arizona as an electrician, he would volunteer to light the stadium and bring his sons to watch the football games. During the ‘60s, Vietnam war protesters were threatening to burn down Old Main and he was called in to shut down power to the building. Later, he worked at the UofA Medical Hospital during the construction phase and after completion.