Obituaries

Marvin Nathaniel Applequist

Marvin Applequist, 81, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004, at the Sublette Center in Pinedale.

Marvin was born on Sept. 29, 1922, in Quick, Neb., on his grandfather's ranch to parents Sigfred and Esther Applequist. When Marvin turned 10 years old, he and his family moved to Casper, where he completed his grade school education. He then moved to Escalon, Calif., and worked his way through high school milking cows.

During World War II he served his country in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was stationed in the Aleutian Islands for three-and-a-half years. After the war, Marvin returned home to Escalon and married his high school sweetheart, Betty Thompson. Together they owned a dairy ranch in Valley Home, Calif., and raised their four children. They later sold their farm in California and moved to Farson to raise cattle on their ranch there.

Marvin loved to be outside ranching. He loved his family, his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Marvin was a member of the United Methodist Church. He was also a 4-H leader, a board member of the weed and pest control, a lifetime member of the Green River Cattleman's Association, and a member of the Grange Organization and the Farm Bureau.

Marvin is survived by wife, Betty Applequist of Farson; and children: JoAnn (Bruce) Crouch of Petaluma, Calif.; Marvin Applequist II of Farson; Estella (George) Loogman of Ripon, Calif.; and Peter (Pam) Applequist of Farson. He has 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by parents, Sigfred and Esther Applequist, and sisters Dorothy Smith, Evelyn Drew and Phyllis Goodanetz.

Funeral services were held Friday, Feb. 6, at the Farson Community Hall. Interment took place following the service in the Eden Valley Cemetery.

Wilma Facklam

On Feb. 5, 2004, Dr. Harold Asire officiated graveside services at the Pinedale Cemetery for Mary Wilma Facklam, 93, who softly passed away at her Daniel home on Feb. 4, 2004.

Wilma was born on March 5, 1910, at Florence, Colo., to Benjamin Franklin and Lou Etta (Morgan) Fox. Delmer Louis Facklam and she were married at Eagle, Colo. on Dec. 29, 1932.

They homesteaded and ranched in the Burns Hole area of Colorado until they moved to a ranch west of Rifle, Colo., in 1947. They later sold the ranch and went into a sporting goods store/bowling alley business partnership in the town of Rifle. The building was destroyed by fire and Del went to work for a building contractor. By 1956 he was contracting on roustabout work for Mobil Oil Company in their Piceance Creek Field, and was sent to work in the Big Piney field. For both Wilma and Del, their meeting Sublette County was "love at first sight." In 1958, they moved to Big Piney.

Del retired in 1970 and they moved to Jackson. He passed away in 1980 and Wilma moved to Daniel in 1988.

Dr. Close recently spoke to a group in Pinedale on the subject of growing old gracefully. He had asked Wilma her thoughts on this, and while modestly she insisted she was not growing old gracefully, the Sublette Examiner carried what now seems a fine tribute to her: "To prepare for his presentation, Close consulted with some of his older patients, gleaning some real gems from a 93-year-old woman especially. She said that to grow old gracefully it helps to have: The assurance that eternity will be spent with the Lord. Prayer and reflection. A sense of humor. A delight in the beauty of nature. A continuing search for knowledge.

"The woman advised watching professional bull riders on TV and limiting the amount of time spent whining, complaining and being critical."

Wilma is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Pat and Hack Walker of Daniel; her step-grandson and his wife, Perry and Barbara Walker of Daniel and their son and daughter-in-law Ethan and Jasmine Walker of Glendale, Ariz.; a sister-in-law, Louise Fox and nieces and nephews; her dog, Duke and her cat, Miky. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, sister Nellie Atwood and brother Hank Fox.

A member of the First Baptist Church of Pinedale, her life was a psalm of praise and worship of her God, Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ.