Obituaries

Alvin D. "Bud" Davison

Bud Davison passed away Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005, at the University of Utah Medical Center.

Bud was born June 17, 1933, in Minneapolis, Minn., to Virgil and Dorothy Davison, the oldest of three sons. Shortly after Bud's arrival, the family moved to South Pass City, where they lived for a brief time before moving to Pinedale and home. Bud attended school in Pinedale and went on to join the Marine Corp, where he served his country for four years.

After leaving the Marines, he met the love of his life, Miriam Pape, and the two of them were married in Pinedale on Dec. 4, 1955. The recent celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary was the true attest of their love for one another. Budand Miriam spent the rest of their lives in Pinedale, raising their four daughters and building their future.

Bud did every kind of work imaginable to support his family, but found his true niche in life when he began his auto body shop. Bud and Miriam owned and operated Bud's Body Shop and Car Wash until 2000, when Bud decided it was time to begin the road toward retirement and sold the business.

Retirement was always something that Bud longed for but just couldn't make himself do until he knew for sure that his family was taken care of and everything would be okay. So another shop was built where he could do odd jobs with his backhoe and dump truck, another one of his passions in life. Bud began working with heavy equipment early in life and never gave it up. He spent summers digging foundations and hauling gravel with his dump truck and backhoe, and winters plowing driveways for many friends and family.

Bud was an avid snowmobiler, hunter, fisherman and just all-around outdoorsman. No matter where you were, golfing, boating, playing softball or racing snowmachines, there was a good chance you were going to see Bud. He had a true love for the Wyoming mountains, so he was often seen pulling his boat or his snowmachine, headed for one of his favorite getaways.

Bud was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Masons, Pinedale Snow Explorers and Pinedale Boat Club.

Bud was preceded in death by his parents and his stepfather.

Survivors include his wife, Miriam Davison of Pinedale; four daughters: Karen Sanders (Louis) of Gilbert, Ariz., Arlene Johnson (Dennis) of Hawthorne, Nev., Sherry Snyder (Valjean) of Bountiful, Utah, and Lesta Winer of Pinedale; six grandchildren (his pride and joy): Garland and Jennifer Sanders, Brittanie and Ammee Snyder, and Steven and Zackary Winer; two brothers: Dennis Davison (Dorothy) of Lander and Virgil Davison (Charlotte) of Denver; many nieces and nephews; and endless friends.

Bud will be deeply missed by all who knew him and loved him. We know that he is just waiting for the day when he can take us to his new-found fishing spots and across the white-powdered mountains he has just finished criss-crossing with fresh new trails.

A funeral service will be held Thursday, Dec. 29, at 1 p.m. in the Pinedale High School Auditorium. Interment will follow in the Pinedale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Kickin' Cancer in Sublette County.

Rose Marie Gordon

Rose Marie Gordon, 69, of Big Piney passed away Sunday evening Dec. 25, 2005, with her family at her side.

Rose Marie was born April 3, 1936, in Wolfe Point, Mont., to Leon and Marie Anita Duval, the sixth child in a family of nine.

Rose Marie married her sweetheart Richard Gordon on June 2, 1955, in Evanston. Together they raised four children.

Rose Marie was a member of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, and loved gardening and working in her yard. She also enjoyed creating hand-made crafts. She was very generous and would often give her hand-made crafts to many people. The doors to her home were always open as she welcomed people into her home as guests, and they were always invited to sit down for a meal. She also was willing to offer her home as a place to stay to someone in need. She loved all animals and would take in those that were in need of doctoring or tender loving care.

Above all, her family was her greatest treasure - her grandchildren were one of the lights of her life.

She is survived by her husband Richard; sons Ronald (Claireanne) of Big Piney, Richard of Riverton, and Randy of Big Piney; daughter Rhonda Lee (Kurt) Amos of LaBarge; three sisters; two brothers; 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers and one sister.

Funeral services will be held Friday, Dec. 30, 2005, at 1 p.m. at the Fine Arts Center in Big Piney. There will be a viewing from noon to 12:50 prior to the service. Interment will follow the services in Plainview Cemetery.

Peter James Bertoncelj

Peter James Bertoncelj, 91, passed away Dec. 21 in Omaha, Neb. He was born Jan. 22, 1914, to Gertrude (Kokalj) Bertoncelj and Jerney (Jerry) Bertoncelj in Rock Springs. When he was four months old, they moved to a small ranch in Big Sandy near Boulder, where he was raised and attended schools. He had many interesting stories to tell of rural school teachers.

He married May Cantlin in March of 1945. They had threec hildren.

They moved to Gillette in 1950. He worked at the Gillette Livestock Barn before he and Harry Turner built a motel, which they operated for two years, afterward he became a building contractor.

He and Jack George became partners in the mid-50s. He retired in 1978 and he and May moved to Sheridan, where they had a small acreage where he could enjoy having the animals he loved.

They moved to Buffalo in 1989, then back to Gillette in 1994. In 2002 they moved to Omaha, Neb., with their daughter Nancy to be near their granddaughter, Alicia Feist and her husband and children.

Peter is survived by his wife, May, daughters: Kathleen Bertoncelj of Laramie and Nancy (Bill) Dirks of Omaha; a son, Dennis (Sherry) Bertoncelj of Gillette; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Andrew Bertoncelj and Dr. Frank Bertoncelj, and two sisters, Angela Kleinhans and Molly Senseshale.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to the Campbell County Senior Center, Gillette, Wyo., 82717.

Melvin "Swede" Gurney

Melvin "Swede" Gurney died Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005 at the home of his daughter, Ellen Brockmeyer in Pinedale. Swede was born June 1, 1915 on the family ranch near Pinedale, the son of Walter and Hazel Gurney. He was the fourth born out of eight children. He went to school in Pinedale at the Sommers Ranch and finished the eighth grade in Big Piney. At age 14 he moved to Cora and got his first job working for Jenkins on the Bar Cross Ranch. He drug meadows, fenced, hayed and did general ranch work. The next summer he hayed for Carroll Noble and fed cattle for Roy Mathis that winter at the old Westfall Place.

Then he went to work full-time for Carroll Noble until the fall of 1945. There he bought his first 10 head of heifers from Carroll for $10 a head and started his own cattle herd. At that time steers were bringing about a nickel.

On Nov. 9, 1936, he married Annie Binning in Green River and they lived on the Noble Ranch in Cora. They left there in the fall of 1945 and went to work on the John Bloom ranch, which is known today as the Redstone Subdivision in Pinedale.

In the fall of 1969, he sold his cattle, left the ranch, and bought a home in Pinedale. He worked some for Jim Noble then went to work for the Sublette County Road and Bridge crew. He retired in 1980 and spent his remaining years working in his shop, building models of sheep wagons, chuckwagons, sleds, teams etc. They can be seen on display throughout the county.

Survivors include two daughters, Ellen Brockmeyer of Pinedale and Mary Fear and her husband, Kenneth Fear Jr. of Big Piney; four grandchildren and four great grandchildren: John Wissler (Kae) and son Sean of Benton Ark., Ellen Smith (Dave) and daughter Megan of St. Peters, Mo., Mandy Norris (Harvey) of Cora, and Jay Fear (Ann) and daughters Lisanne and Abigail of Pinedale; sister Dorothy Phipps of DeQueen, Ark.; sister-in-law Vianna Gurney of Hillsdale; brother-in-law Mel Humphrey of Cheyenne; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Annie, and his parents, Walter and Hazel Gurney; two brothers: Marshall and Jack Gurney; and four sisters: Margaret Thompson, Louise Olson, Jane Kessler and Josie Humphrey.

A graveside funeral service was held Monday, Dec. 26 at Plainview Cemetery in Big Piney with Pastor Dick Kalber conducting the service.

If desired, donations may be sent to Kickin' Cancer in Sublette County, P.O. Box 383, Daniel, Wyo., 83115