William Irvin Crump (Bill) passed away at the age of 95 on September 29, 2020 at the Wind River Rehab in Riverton, Wyoming. He was born January 3, 1925 to Joseph Crump and Elizabeth Swan in El Paso, Texas.
Bill attended high school in El Paso where he played football. He proudly enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 17 and served on the submarine USS Pompon as a Communications Specialist. He and his Sub Crew conducted 9 successful attack missions during his service in the South Pacific. He was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, American and Asiatic-Pacific area ribbons, and the Good Conduct Medal.
Following an honorable discharge from the Navy on January 2, 1946, Bill briefly attended the College of Mines & Metallurgy in El Paso, then on to Colorado A&M College in Ft. Collins, where he graduated Valedictorian of a class of 900 with a BS degree in Wildlife and Range Management on June 10, 1949. Upon graduation from A&M, Bill was hired by the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept as a Big Game Biologist. He had a very successful career with the WG&F and was promoted to the position of District Supervisor, a position he held until his retirement in 1980. After retiring, he remained very active, irrigating and running the family ranch, and owning and operating a very successful rangeland reclamation and seeding business.
Bill married his high school sweetheart, Dolores Jean Ohswaldt in El Paso on May 27, 1946. They moved to Pinedale, Wyoming in a Model A Ford sedan, and then on to Lander in 1954. They made their home on the old Laird Ranch on Squaw Creek west of Lander.
Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Dolores, in 1999.
Bill and Dee are survived by their 5 children: Sharon Swann of Kihei, Hawaii; Sandra Smith of Tulsa, Oklahoma; James (Lori) in Lander; Thomas (Kathy) in Sheridan and Robert (Ann) in Thailand. Also, in the Crump Clan are 13 grandchildren and many great grandchildren.
Bill was a leader and actively served in many organizations including: Rotary & Foreign Student Exchange Program; Fremont Co. Historical Society; Fremont Co. Planning Commission; Toastmasters; One Shot Antelope Hunt; Boone & Crocket Club, serving as an Official Measurer and Judge of North American Big Game Trophies; to name just a few.
Bill was a gregarious people person and loved to share his life with others. Competitive cribbage games, playing poker with the boys of the Squaw Creek Culture Club, hunting, fly fishing on many rivers around the world, and horse pack trips into the high country, were just a few of the many joys in his life. Family outings were always fun as Bill was an excellent flint knapper and loved planting his “homemade” arrowheads in places where the kids could find them during one of their many scavenger hunts. Bill loved to read and was a collector of many fine books of western history as well as Wyoming history. Most of all, he loved the ranch life and his family. He is missed by many and remembered by all. May he rest in Peace.
Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Please sign the on-line guestbook: hudsonsfh.com