Passings

Mary F. Garey

Mary F. Garey, 78, of Cheyenne, died on Aug. 24 in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

She was born on Dec. 30, 1942 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mary worked in the accounting departments for the state of Wyoming and the Wyoming Game and Fish, before retiring Garey from the old Wyoming Highway Department, WYDOT’s predecessor agency. She retired from the Financial Services Program in January 1981.

Private family services were held.

Jon D. Hendrickson

Jon David Hendrickson, 76, of Cheyenne passed away unexpectedly July 23.

Hendrickson was born July 11, 1945, in International Falls, Minnesota, son of Oliver and Dorothy (Loney) Hendrickson.

He was a very hard worker as a roofer for many years before moving to Cheyenne. He continued roofing while working at Wyoming Sheet Metal. In December 1984, he began his service to the state at the Wyoming Highway Department as buildings and grounds maintenance crew in the Facilities Management Program. He was very proud of the certifications and accomplishments he received in welding, plumbing and wastewater management during his tenure. Hendrickson retired in May 2007.

He was quite the jokester and master storyteller, keeping family and friends entertained and laughing.

His numerous interests and talents included hunting, fishing, spending time in his garage tinkering with his cars, welding, tearing apart and rebuilding anything he could get his hands on. He enjoyed cruising around town in his classic cars, and always looked forward to spending time at the cabin in the mountains and building nice warm fires and watching westerns.

Hendrickson will be remembered for his zest for life, his ability to fix pretty much anything, his love for his life partner, Marcia, family and his beloved cat, Millie.

Cremation has taken place and no services were held, per his wishes. Hendrickson

Steven Skiba

Steven “Steve” Skiba, 62, passed away Aug. 13 at his home in Chugwater after his battle with cancer.

Skiba was born on June 1, 1959 the son of Joseph Bernard and Frances Ruth (Stewart) Skiba in Kansas City, Missouri.

He was a Highway Maintenance Technician based in Chugwater. He started with WYDOT on July 5, 2016 and retired April 1.

A celebration of his life was held Aug. 19, at the Chugwater Valley Church, in Chugwater.

The funeral service was held on Aug. 21 at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Memorial donations to the Chugwater Fire Department or to Cheyenne Village Inc., are welcome.

Skiba

Gerald R. Thuente

Gerald (Jerry) Roderick Thuente Jr., 57, resident of Laramie, died on July 26, at home, following a very short bout with COVID-19.

Thuente, son of Gerald Thuente and Ruth Spear Thuente, was born on Nov. 21, 1963 in Algona, Iowa where he joined three sisters to complete the family. He attended Algona High School and graduated in 1982. He was active in football and wrestling, making the all-conference football squad playing both offense and defense. After high school, Thuente attended Iowa Lakes Community College where he played on the defense for the Lakers. His time spent playing football and wrestling would go on to be some of his favorite memories that he often reminisced about with his children. He later attended the University of Wyoming.

He was married to Betsy Nauman Cook on July 1, 2002. Together, they had a daughter, Elsa Ann. Thuente also became a father to a stepdaughter, Kaleigh Nauman, and to two stepsons, Thaxton Cook and Rhett Cook. All of whom he loved dearly and took in as his own.

Outdoors was the favorite setting for Thuente’s careers. In Algona, he was well known at the Algona swimming pool as a swim instructor, swim team coach, lifeguard and pool manager. In Wyoming, he worked a variety of jobs at Snowy Range Ski Area, ultimately becoming general manager. During his tenure, he was the recipient of several National Ski Patrol Merit Star Awards. His final career was with the Wyoming Department of Transportation as a heavy equipment operator. He was with the Department for 10 years. He served in various positions including painting crew, maintenance crew and operated a snow plow on I-80.

He enjoyed cooking on his smoker and his family and friends relished his delicious creations. He also enjoyed traveling to watch his daughter compete in swim meets and volleyball games. He was looking forward to seeing his daughter start her new life as a college student.

Memorials can be made to Elsa’s college fund. Condolences can be sent to elsathuente@gmail.com.

A celebration of life barbecue was held on Aug. 14 at Washington Park, in Laramie. A private family service to scatter cremains will occur at a later date. n Thuente