Obituaries

Doris Carolyn (Parrish) Kelso

Published by admin on Thu, 12/22/2022 - 10:47am

Feb. 4, 1943 – Dec. 13, 2022

Doris Carolyn (Parrish) Kelso, 79, passed away on Dec. 13, 2022, in Basin, Wyo., after a long battle with Parkinson’s. She was born on Feb. 4, 1943, in Humboldt, Tenn., to Otis and Audie Mae Parrish. As an infant, she moved to Michigan, where her mom worked in a factory to support the war effort, first meeting Otis upon his return from World War II. Doris completed high school in Trenton, Mich., and attended Eastern Michigan University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in education and was a member of the American Association of University Women.  She later went on to receive master’s degrees in reading and administration. Doris was a voracious reader throughout her life and loved to learn. Even in her later years when her eyesight failed, she loved listening to audio books.

Mary Etta (Rosenbaum) Gazaway

Published by admin on Thu, 12/22/2022 - 10:46am

Feb. 20, 1936 – Dec. 11, 2022

Mary Etta (Rosenbaum) Gazaway passed away peacefully on Dec. 11, 2022. She was born on Feb. 20, 1936 to George Walker Rosenbaum and Elizabeth "Bessie" (Brown) Rosenbaum, the second of six children, in Deer Creek, Okla. Her great-grandfather Harvey Brown ran in the Cherokee Land Run. The family moved around a lot, following work. Mary attended schools in Oklahoma, graduating the eighth grade in 1950 in Cherokee. To her freshman (1951) classmates in Del Monte High School, Colo., she was “the cutest red-head in the school.”

Jean Marie Gonzales

Published by admin on Thu, 12/15/2022 - 11:48am

Aug. 10, 1946 – Nov. 22, 2022

Jean Marie Gonzales, 76, passed away at home surrounded by her loving family on Nov. 22, 2022, in Greybull, Wyo. Jean was born on Aug. 10, 1946, to Leah Donna Thompson and Dwight Keith McCune in Gordon, Neb. She graduated from Gordon High School in Nebraska and attended Chadron State College.

Barbara Nell (Leavitt) Blakesley

Published by admin on Thu, 12/15/2022 - 11:45am

August 13, 1927 – December 9, 2022

Barbara Nell (Leavitt) Blakesley, 95, passed away Dec. 9, 2022, at the Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Worland of natural causes.  Barbara was born Aug. 13, 1927, in rural Shell, Wyo., the daughter of Charles Andrew Leavitt and Nell Barclay (Smith) Leavitt.  She was raised in the Shell Valley and attended the Shell school.  Barbara graduated from Greybull High School in 1946 where she sang in the choir.  The “Graduating Class Prophecy” in the Greybull High School Yearbook described her as “The Blonde Bombshell”!

Jay Lee Wilkinson

Published by admin on Thu, 12/08/2022 - 12:07pm

Dec. 27, 1941 – Dec. 4, 2022

Jay Lee Wilkinson, 80, was born to Guy (Boney) and Gladys (Hap) Wilson Wilkinson on Dec. 27, 1941, in the Greybull Hospital. Jay passed away on Dec. 4, 2022, after a long battle with COPD. 

Jay married Marilyn Joyce Aagard on Oct. 20, 1960. Jay worked his way up to manager at the Safeway grocery store in Greybull. To stay in Greybull, Jay and Marilyn purchased a small grocery store, J & H Grocery. Jay then moved on to various other jobs in propane, the sales barn and bentonite. Jay retired as a heavy equipment operator from MI on Aug. 30, 2009.

Joseph Nicholas Herman

Published by admin on Thu, 12/08/2022 - 12:06pm

Aug. 25, 1938 – Dec. 5, 2022

Joseph Nicholas Herman: A Life Well Lived.

Joseph Nicholas (Nick) Herman, 84, passed peacefully into the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Monday morning, Dec. 5, 2022, after a brief stay in the North Big Horn Hospital near his home of Basin, Wyo.  This last year and a half he valiantly battled an unusual unnamed illness.

He was born on Aug.25, 1938 in Eaton, Colo., to Rose Marie (Studer) Herman, a nurse, and Joseph William Herman, a cowboy turned plumber.  He grew up with parents who started out not having much but made a good life for their family through grit and determination.    He grew up with his younger brother Ken, enjoying the nearby mountains and ranches that took root in his heart and remained among his favorite places to be throughout his life

Frances Arlene Ogg Griffin

Published by admin on Thu, 12/08/2022 - 12:02pm

Frances Arlene Ogg Griffin, age 80, of Meeteetse, Wyo., passed away Dec. 1, 2022, at Spirit Mountain Hospice House in Cody at 5:30 a.m.

Arlene was born in Worland, Wyo., to James John (Jim) Ogg and Iris Maria Beaver Ogg. She started school in Greybull, but because of her father’s jobs she also went to school in Shell, Meeteetse, Hyattville, Manderson, back to Greybull and graduated eighth grade from Cody. Then to Meeteetse for high school for 2 ½ years and back to Greybull to finish 11th grade. 

Madonna G. Hartman

Published by admin on Tue, 11/22/2022 - 2:36pm

Aug. 16, 1920 – Nov. 10, 2022

Madonna was born on Aug. 16, 1920, in the small town of Stuart, Neb.  She and her three brothers bounced the three miles to school in a cart pulled by their little pony, Twinkle.  After her third year of high school (during the Depression), the family found it necessary to move west.  They settled in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming.  She completed high school in Basin.  She married Adam Hartman in 1940 and they lived on Orchard Bench and later moved 12 miles west of town.  Besides being a mother of three, she was also the bookkeeper for their extensive farm and ranch livelihood.  Like most rural housewives, she tended a garden, canned and froze produce, and often cooked for extra hired hands, as well as cousins who loved to come out to the country to ride horses and enjoy ranch life.

Gail Beck Morse

Published by admin on Tue, 11/22/2022 - 2:36pm

June 10, 1936 – Nov. 1, 2022

Gail Beck Morse, 86 years of age, passed away Nov. 1, 2022, in Denver, Colo. Gail, was born in Otto, Wyo., June 10, 1936, moving with her family at the age of 10 to Basin, Wyo., in 1946. 

Gail attended schools in Basin, graduating from Basin High School, class of 1954. She spent a brief period after graduation working in Oakland, Calif. Returning to Wyoming, she worked as a waitress at cafes and restaurants in Basin and Worland, Wyo. In 1959, she moved to Denver, Colo., and was employed at the Writers’ Manor of Denver, in the hospitality industry.. She retired in 1991 as a manager supervisor after 32 years of employment. She met her life partner, Billy Bob Morse, in Denver in 1960. He preceded her in death in July of 1993.

Gail Beck Morse

Published by admin on Thu, 11/10/2022 - 2:44pm

Word has been received of the death of Gail Beck Morse on Nov. 1, 2022 in Denver.

Gail was a 1954 graduate of Basin High School.