THERMOPOLIS - Funeral services for Lander resident Willard Vernon "Woody" Hughes, 82, will be held Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006, at 2 p.m., at Mortimore Funeral Home in Thermopolis with Pastor Jack Bohannon of the Seventh Day Adventist Church officiating. Burial will follow at Monument Hill Cemetery.
He died Sept. 14, 2006, at his residence.
He was born Aug. 4, 1924, in Denver, the son of Harry and Ruth W. (Hauck) Phelps. He was raised by Ruth and Jess Hughes and attended school at Rifle, Sunbeam and Hiawatha in Colorado and at Bairoil and Rawlins.
Some of his first jobs were herding sheep, punching cattle, working at filling stations and for the City of Lander. He also worked at Bishop Randall Hospital and owned and operated a bicycle repair shop.
He married Elsa Marie Bloomquist in Big Timber, Mont., on July 3, 1951. After they moved to Meeker, Colo., in 1974, he was employed by Barry Brother's Ready Mix.
From 1981 to 1998, they lived in the Rifle area, where he worked for Battlement Mesa Service Center and Casey Concrete before returning to Lander in 2002.
He was a member of the Lander Seventh Day Adventist Church, enjoyed fishing, ATVing, playing table games with family and friends and enjoyed making bird houses and feeders.
Survivors include his wife of Lander, two daughters, Sandra Taylor of Lander and Reba Cook and her husband of Rulison, Colo.; brother, John Hughes of Lander; four sisters, Mabel Applehans of Riverton, Ila Johnstone of Kaycee, Shirley Black of Dubois and Vada Galvan of Farmington, Mo.; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Harry Phelps and Ruth and Jess Hughes and three sisters, Leona Lujan, Wilma Jean and Bonnie Lucille Hughes.
The family requests no flowers, but memorials to a worthy cause of the donor's choice.
Courtesy of Casper Star Tribune - Trib.com