Annie Alkire

TORRINGTON, WY…. Funeral services for ANN MAY ALKIRE, 80, will be held on Wednesday December 31, 2008, at 10am at the Church of Christ in Torrington, Wyoming with Pastor Phil King officiating. Burial will follow at Valley View Cemetery. Visitation will be at the Colyer Funeral Home Chapel on Tuesday from 3-7pm. Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, Annie May Alkire quietly slipped away to a well-earned peace on Friday December 26, 2008, at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Arrangements are under the direction of the Colyer Funeral Home and friends are invited to send condolences to the family at www.colyerfuneralhome.com. Ann was born on April 29, 1928, to John William and Nellie Jane Brown Lawler at Amsterdam, Missouri. She lived there until her parents died when she was young, after which she moved to Wheatland, Wyoming. Part of her time was spent on a sheep ranch in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. She graduated from Wheatland High School in 1945. Anne moved to Torrington, where she was employed at the Indian Grille Café. She married Clifford (Chalky) Ivan Alkire on July 7, 1946. They had four children, Susan, Garry, Jerry, and Gene. The family lived in Washington State for a few years, in several towns in Wyoming, and on various ranches, permanently settling in Torrington in 1960, where they established Alkire Trucking in 1969. Throughout her life, Ann worked at different jobs, including planting the first trees at Coney Acres Tree Farm and for several years as a receptionist and bookkeeper for Goshen Veterinary Clinic. She also dispatched trucks and kept books for the family trucking business. Since her husband’s death in 1992, Ann continued to live independently in her country home. In her retirement, she worked part-time at Goshen Veterinary Clinic and enjoyed playing bingo and taking the bus to Prairie Winds. Always a kind and gentle spirit, Ann also possessed a fierce determination, overcoming the loss of her son, husband, and great-granddaughter, invasive surgery from lung cancer, a previous heart attack, and numerous other medical trials. Still, she retained her sense of humor and her forgiving nature. Although an introspective, unassertive person, she was also an avid reader and an articulate, intelligent woman who enjoyed conversations on wide-ranging subjects. Ann derived the joy in life from the accomplishments of her family members and friends, a demure friend who never waivered, no matter the circumstances. Ann is survived by three of her children, Susan (Jim) Bowlin of Torrington, Garry (Laurie) Alkire of Scottsbluff, and Gene (Julie) Alkire of Torrington, along with 3 granddaughters: Sheila, Diana, and Morgan; 6 grandsons: Shawn, Toby, Kyle, Samuel, Justin, and Ross. She also is survived by 12 great-grandchildren, plus one to be born in February of 2009. Her sister Mary Carey of Henry, NE, and numerous nieces and nephews survive her as well. She was preceded in death by her husband Cliff, her son Jerry, her parents, her sisters Sarah and Nellie, a great-granddaughter, Tayler, and her half-brother Murray Cooley.

Annie Alkire

April 29, 1928 - December 26, 2008