Don and Phyllis Shipman
Page by Randy Shipman with contributions from Bob Leathers
Don Shipman. President of the Hanna School Board. 1966. (Hanna Miner. 1966)
Donald "Don" Shipman
Donald "Don" Shipman was born August 4, 1925 to Elmer and Esther Shipman in Charles Mix County, South Dakota. He died November 10, 2017 in Laramie, Wyoming at the age of 92. He was buried in the Greenhill Cemetery in Laramie. (Ancestry)
Don worked at the depot in Hanna.
Don was 3rd trick telegrapher 1948 and then agent in Hanna thru 1968, then freight agent at the K office in Laramie until he became an engineer. (Randy Shipman)
Donald L. Shipman, 92 of Laramie died Friday November 10, 2017 in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
Don was born August 4, 1925 near the family farm on Scalp Creed at Wheeler, So. Dakota, the second oldest of Elmer and Esther (Kurpgeweit) Shipman's five children. He graduated from Fairfax High School in 1943, where he received a teaching certificate and taught school a short time at Mission before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was a veteran of WWII in the European Theatre, serving with Third Infantry HQ Division. After VE Day, he volunteered for the newly established U.S. Constabulary and what was coined the Circle C Cowboys. He was present for some of the Nuremberg Trials. He was a trombonist in the 3rd Inf. Div. HQ band, that played for world dignitaries and for WWII American Cemetery dedications throughout Europe.
Upon his honorable discharge for the Army, he returned to Fairfax, So. Dakota and married his high school sweetheart Phyllis Walth on December 19, 1947, to which union was born two children; Connie and Randy.
They moved to Chillicothe, Missouri where he attended Business & Telegrapher School and thereafter worked in several towns in Wyoming before settling at Hanna, WY where he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad as a telegrapher, depot agent and then on to Laramie in 1967 as freight agent and later train engineer until his retirement in 1986. No matter his circumstance, he retained a good sense of humor as was shown by his So.
Dakota livestock bran of -BQ, Left Ribs Cattle.
He was a lifetime member of the VFW Hanna Post 6680, Grace Pond Chapter of Morse Telegraph Club, elected a Mayor of Hanna, served as volunteer fire fighter, 4-H leader, and several terms on the Hanna/Elk Mountain School Board as well as a member of the Union Pacific Railroad Old Timers Club. He was a founding member of the Lutheran Church when the Hanna State Bank was converted into a place of worship and current member of Zion Lutheran Church of Laramie at the time of his death. Don celebrated 69 years of marriage with Phyllis.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a daughter Connie Burnside; brothers Eugene, Ervin and Norman.
He is survived by his wife Phyllis, a sister Maxine, son Randy (Anne-Marie) of Rock Springs, a son-in-law Mal Burnside of Cheyenne, five grandchildren; Levi Burnside (Danielle) of Cheyenne, WY; Sarah Iversen (Derrick of Commerce, CO; Shane Shipman (Jonquil) of Grant, MN; Michelle Babcock (Brock) of Lawrence, KS; and Lisa Eyre (Ken) of Portland, OR. Also surviving are eight great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. (Montgomery Stryker November 14, 2017)
Phyllis Jean (Walth) Shipman
Physsis Jean Walth was born November 16, 1925 to George and Martha Walth in South Dakota. She married Don Shipman December 19, 1947 in Gregory, South Dakota. She died December 8 2017 at the age of 92 in Rock Springs, Wyoming and buried in the Greenhill cemetery in Laramie, Wyoming with her husband Don Shipman. (Ancestry)
Phyllis Jean Walth Shipman, 92, of Laramie passed away December 8, 2017 in Rock Springs.
Phyllis suffered from dementia. She was born November 16, 1925, to George and Martha (Dietz) Walth at their farm home near Fairfax, South Dakota. She was the second of four children.
Phyllis attended Benz country school through 8th grade, finishing high school in Fairfax. During war time and a shortage of teachers she taught at Pocahontas country school, and later worked at a naval munitions factory in Hastings, Nebraska.
After WWII she married her high school sweetheart, Donald Shipman, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fairfax on December 19, 1947. To this union were born two children, Connie and Randy.
Don and Phyllis began their journey in Hanna, Wyoming where she was a housewife, 4-H leader, carried the mail for Union Pacific Railroad mail trains, was Fuller Brush salesman, served the Parent Teachers Association, and Lutheran Ladies Aide. She was a member of Hanna VFW Post 6680 Ladies Auxiliary.
In 1968, Phyllis moved with her husband to Laramie, Wyoming. She was active in Zion Lutheran Church, the Cowbelles, Welcome Wagon, and worked at the University of Wyoming, retiring in 1987 as Supervisory-Manager of the Faculty Staff dining room.
She traveled throughout Western Europe, Canada, and the U.S.A., until illness overtook her travels in 2011.
Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Don, her daughter Connie Burnside, and her sisters Shirley Pelc and Deloris Eitler.
She is survived by her brother Donald Walth (Phyllis), Scottsbluff, NE; son Randy (Anne-Marie), Rock Springs; son-in-law Mal Burnside, Cheyenne; grandsons Shane Shipman (Jonquil), Grand, MN; Levi Burnside (Danielle), Cheyenne; granddaughters Michelle Babcock (Brock), Lawrence, KS; Sarah Iverson (Derek), Commerce City, CO; Lisa Eyre (Ken), Portland, OR; and numerous nieces, nephews, and great-grandchildren. (Laramie Boomerang January 7, 2018)
Phyllis Shipman worked at the Post Office. She hung the mail bag each day for train pickup. The mail train speared the mail bag on its way through town each day.1950-1960. (Don and Phyllis Shipman Collection from Randy Shipman)