F LeRoy Lewis

F. LeRoy Lewis, 84, died July 14, 2004 at Michael Manor in Douglas following an extended illness. He was born Dec. 14, 1919 in Kimball, Nebraska to Floyd Kailer Lewis and Christina (Ruff) Lewis. Mr. Lewis spent his early childhood in Kimball. He left school to help support his family and weathered the Great Depression by collecting cull potatoes, grain screenings and roadside sugar beets which he hauled home in his little red wagon. The family moved to Chugwater, Wyoming in 1936 to live and work on the Diamond LL Ranch. In the fall of 1936, the family relocated to Douglas, where LeRoy began work for the Cross family as a ranch hand on the Buckshot Ranch. LeRoy returned to high school and graduated from Douglas in 1939. He joined Troop K of the Wyoming National Guard and started working part time at H&S Service Station. He enlisted with the Army Air Corp in 1941, and received training as a weather observer, an aviation cadet and a dill sergeant. During World War II he was stationed overseas in Panama and Guatemala and many stateside locations. He was discharged in 1945 and returned to Douglas where he later became a partner in the former Douglas Motor Company, a Dodge dealership. He built and opened the Bear Alignment Shop in 1956 and worked there until his retirement in 1976. In addition, he owned and managed the adjacent Roy's Standard Station from 1959-69. On Nov. 14, 1946, LeRoy married Edith Manning of Douglas. Together they had three children, Linda, Danny and Connie. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Edith; children, Linda Eaton and husband Chuck, Danny Lewis, and Connie Amen and husband Jack, all of Douglas; 4 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren; sisters and their husbands Jeanne Pauley of Casper and Eileen Van Stedum of Tehachapi, Calif. He was preceded in death by his parents; sister Mabel Dalziel; and brothers Billy D. Lewis and Elvin Lewis. (Information was obtained from his obituary by Betty Alberts, FAG Member #47293729.)