James Arthur Phipps

LINGLE, WYOMING...........Memorial services for JAMES “JIM” ARTHUR PHIPPS 72, will be held at 11am Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at the Lingle Community Presbyterian Church with Reverend Curtis Hill officiating. Burial will be at a later date. Jim passed away at he family farm in Lingle on January 16, 2010. Cremation has taken place. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Sioux County Historical Society in his honor. Arrangements are under the direction of the Colyer Funeral Home and friends may send condolences to the family at www.colyerfuneralhome.com. Jim was born December 2, 1937 in Lusk, Wyoming the son of LeRoy and Leta (Hopkins) Phipps. His childhood was spent on the Phipp’s ranch in Sioux County Nebraska. He attended Panhandle District 68 school and graduated from Harrison High School in 1955. Upon graduation he worked in Casper, Wyoming at various oilfield related jobs prior to his enlistment in the U.S. Army where he became a helicopter mechanic and served in Korea. After his military service he worked for Columbia Helicopter in Oregon. He married Dorothy Burdette Nies in 1966. She and her sons Rob and Terry Nies moved south of Harrison, Nebraska to the Phipp’s ranch to continue the ranching operation already thriving in Sioux County. A son James Alex was born to the couple in 1967. Dorothy died of cancer in 1982 and he later married Donna Wells in Lingle, Wyoming on January 12, 1985. They resided on both the Phipp’s ranch and the farm in Lingle where they ranched for twenty-five years. Jim was a member of the Harrison VFW, the Sioux County Historical Society, the Western History Museum, and served two terms on the Farm and Ranch Museum Board in Gering, Nebraska. He was also a member of the American Angus Association and R-Calf. He was an avid reader, historian, data collector, and internet buff. He was a progressive livestock producer, taking an avid interest in the bloodlines of his cattle herd and was a proud producer of natural grown beef. He will be fondly remembered for his wit, dry humor, vast knowledge, and incredible memory by all who knew him. Jim is survived by his wife Donna of Lingle, Wyoming; son Jim (Pam) Phipps of Glenrock, Wyoming; stepsons, Terry (Candy) Nies and Rob (Lori) Nies of Portland, Oregon, and Brian (Connie) Wells of Sundance, Wyoming; stepdaughter Brenda (Kent) Santillanes of Loveland, Colorado; nine grandchildren; six great grandchildren; brother-in-law Ron Grote of Harrison, Nebraska; a large extended family; and his constant companion, Scamp. He was preceded in death by his parents; first wife Dorothy; and a sister Jerri Sue Grote.