Dan Creger

Dan Creger
Monday, October 29, 2007

CASPER -- A celebration of the life of Daniel Dale Creger, 47, will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007, at First United Methodist Church with Steve Burnett officiating. Burial will take place in his native Iowa.

Those attending are asked to wear Green Bay Packer clothing, as the pallbearers will.

He died Oct. 26, 2007, at Central Wyoming Hospice Home after being diagnosed with terminal esophageal cancer in August 2006.

He was born Dec. 9, 1959, at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, to John D. and Carolyn Barnett Creger. He was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, but that did not hamper his love of life or the gift he was to those who knew him.

He was in the fifth grade when his family moved to Casper in 1971. He attended Southridge and CY and graduated from Natrona County High School in 1979 in a class of 600, receiving a standing ovation as he rolled up to get his diploma from all but one -- his mother -- who was too overcome with emotion to stand.

He didn't start his sophomore year until the second semester because of scoliosis, which resulted in surgery so a rod could be inserted in his back. He never walked again.

He was hired by the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management as a computer clerk and worked for the federal government for more than 23 years.

He not been on Social Security for more than 25 years and qualified for no help financially. He hired his own caretakers and owned several vehicles, although he could never drive them.

Two years ago, he transferred to the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, where he did computer work and was also a guide/greeter.

He had been an avid Green Bay Packer fan since age 3 and made his first trip to Lambeau Field several years ago when the Atrium expansion was dedicated.

Recently, he received a pair of Green Bay Packer shoes in the mail to wear "in his next life." His mother has placed them in his casket. He also received an autographed football and a personal note from Brett Favre.

Survivors include his parents, brothers, David and Douglas and their wives; "sister," Carolyn (Goertz) Renner and her husband and their children; nephews, John E. and Brett; a large extended family of loving relatives and longtime friends; his great coworkers, his best buddies, and his puppy.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Howard "Babe" and Sylvia (Bennett) Barnett and John A. and Rita (Wilson) Creger.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center will be used to engrave his name on the wall. Any remaining funds will be given to the Five Trails Adult Day Center, where they lovingly fed him lunch every workday; CATC, his wheelchair transportation service, Hospice, Shriners Hospitals for Children and Easter Seals.