Wayne Vanderpoel

CHEYENNE, WY . . . . Memorial services for WAYNE GAYLORD VANDERPOEL, 89, will be held on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 1:00pm at All Saints Episcopal Church in Torrington, Wyoming with The Rev. Mary Jellison officiating. Wayne died on December 12, 2008 in Cheyenne at Mountain Towers. His ashes will be interred in Cheyenne at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be directed, in Wayne’s name, to Eastern Wyoming College Foundation at 3200 West C Street, Torrington, WY 82240. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Colyer Funeral Home and friends are invited to send condolences to the family at www.colyerfuneralhome.com Wayne was born on October 16, 1919 in Lodi, Wisconsin the son of Alfred L. and Idelia (Rutlin) Vanderpoel. He grew up and received his education; graduating from high school in Shawano, Wisconsin. He went on to attend Oshkosh State Teachers College for two years from 1937 to 1939 before enlisting in the US Army Air Corps; which was a small, and about to grow, service. Basic training was at Scott Field in Belleville, Illinois. Wayne’s flight training was at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas; and eventually he served as a navigator instructor at Kelly Field. Wayne furthered his flight training at Tulsa, San Angelo, and San Antonio. He was assigned to a tow-target squadron at Liberty Field in Savannah, Georgia and later he spent a year at Wilmington, North Carolina and on Long Island for a year. He was taking combat training at Florence, South Carolina when the war ended on V J Day in August, 1945. Upon discharge, Wayne served Northeast Airlines as a 2nd Officer on a New England commuter line. He spent two years working for the airline while attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston. In February of 1947, he enrolled at the University of Wyoming at Laramie where he took his degree in Mathematics in 1948. Wayne then taught school at Huntley High School from 1948 to 1951 when he became a representative for State Farm Insurance in Torrington where he continued until his retirement 41 and a half years later. He married Lila Burr Chapman in Savannah, Georgia in 1944 and the marriage ended in divorce. In June of 1949, Wayne married Sally Rouse Keeline at All Saints Episcopal Church in Torrington. Wayne served two terms as a Senator in the Wyoming Legislature, six years on the Wyoming State School Board and as Chairman of the Board of Eastern Wyoming College. He was one of the people responsible for laying the corner stone for the first permanent building on the EWC campus. Wayne served as president of the Torrington Club, Rotary International; Chairman of the Senior Friendship Center Board; Chairman of the Board of Diversified Services; Chairman of the Board of the Goshen County Department of Public Assistance, and was a member of the Goshen County Chamber of Commerce. He was also a Captain in the Wyoming Army National Guard from 1951 to 1963; retiring with 24 total years of military service. Wayne was a member of the American Legion Post #5 and All Saints Episcopal Church where he served as Senior Warden, Junior Warden, and Treasurer many times. He is survived by his wife Sally, of Torrington; his daughter, Gay Vanderpoel Woodhouse of Cheyenne, Wyoming; grandchildren, Melanie Anderson, Elizabeth Yaden, Sarah Vanderpoel, Dustin Woodhouse, and Houston Woodhouse; great grandchldren, Keiser Wolfe, Griffin Wolfe,a nd Makenzie Woodhouse; his brother, T.L. Vanderpoel, Jr of Shawano, Wisconsin; and a sister, Vanis Neuman of Gresham, Wisconsin. He was preceded in death by his brothers, Jack and Sanford; his daughter, Sally Jo Cashner in 2000, and his son, Philip Rouse Vanderpoel in 2002.

Wayne Vanderpoel

October 16, 1919 - December 12, 2008