In Memory of Willis Shriver
12/18/1917 – 4/16/2012
Willie was born on a small farm in Weskan, Kansas to Irvin and Emily Shriver. He was the youngest of 4 children – Ruth, Burris, Lois and Willis. He graduated from Weskan High School and moved to Laramie, Wyoming, where he graduated from the University of Wyoming. While in college he visited his brother-in-law, Orville Hays, a UP engineer that was laid over in Cheyenne and staying at the Metropolitan Hotel. The hotel was owned by Grace Brown’s mother, Mary Eidam, and some of Grace and Tandy’s daughters worked there. One was Leah who quickly captured Willie’s heart. On November 23, 1940, they eloped to Sidney, Nebraska, and began a 69 year marriage before Leah died in 2009. They had 4 daughters -Sue Myers (deceased), Jean Patterson, Jerry Keslar and Jayne Clark, 12 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great-grandchildren.
Following college Willie worked for United Airlines as an airplane mechanic until 1946 when he began a long career at Frontier Refinery before retiring in 1985. He was an avid horseman spending many years in the Cheyenne Sheriff’s Mounted Posse riding in parades in Cheyenne, Calgary, Las Vegas and Pendleton, Oregon. He also joined his brother-in-law, Charles Brown, on several Pike’s Peak Trail Rides where he became a favorite with the members. Willie loved riding his horses, cleaning barns and mowing hay – activities he continued into his 90s. He also raised his dog and best friend, Buster, who now lives with Jean Patterson and “little Sam”.
Willie was always a favorite of his in-laws, the Browns, who appreciated his quiet sense of humor and patience with all of their antics. He is sorely missed by them, his children and grandchildren, and he and Leah’s many friends.