Eleanor Walters Hamilton

Eleanor Walters Hamilton, a devoted ranch wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, peacefully passed away at the Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions care facility on February 24, 2025 at the age of 95. 

Eleanor Edith Walters was born on November 8, 1929 to Stanley and Helen Walters in Basin, Wyoming. She was raised on the family ranch in Hyattville, growing up with a deep appreciation for the land, hard work, and the simple joys of country life. This began her lifetime ranching pursuit. 

Her mother moved to Basin with Eleanor and Ron so they could attended grade school. After attending 1st grade in Basin they then moved back to Hyattville and attended 2nd through 9th grades there.

When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Ron and Eleanor moved to Worland to finish high school. Eleanor's mother lost her battle with cancer and passed away when she was 16.

She graduated in May of 1947 in Worland and was salutatorian of her graduating class. That fall Eleanor, along with her brother Ron, attended the University of Wyoming. During her junior year at the University, she met Merle Hamilton who was in his last quarter at the University. After Eleanor graduated with a degree in history, she and Merle were married on August 31, 1951 on the family ranch at Hyattville. They moved to the ranch shortly after they were married. Together they built a legacy on their beloved ranch, weathering the seasons with grit, faith, and an unwavering dedication to family and livestock. From early morning chores to home-cooked meals that nourished generations, she was the heart of the homestead, embodying resilience and grace in every task she undertook.

Merle and Eleanor raised two sons, Keith and Ken, instilling in them the values of hard work, honesty, and a deep respect for agriculture. Eleanor knew both the joys and hardships of ranch life. She experienced profound loss when her brother was tragically killed in a tractor accident on the family ranch in 1960. The tragedy left a lasting impact on her. Just a few years later, in 1964, she endured the heartbreak of losing her father, Stan, to cancer. Through these difficult times, Eleanor remained a pillar of strength for her family, leaning on her faith and the support of community to carry on.

In 1968, Merle and Eleanor purchased her uncle and stepmother's shares in Walters Brothers Ranch and took on the task of running the operation. Eleanor played a vital part in the ranch’s success. The ranch was later renamed Hamilton Ranch. A master of many skills, she could assist in the lambing barn, feed a baby calf, milk a cow, mend a torn seam, and prepare a feast—all in a single day. Eleanor would often be found on a Ford 8N tractor dragging the fields in the spring. She milked cows to be used to feed bum lambs and always raised chickens, ensuring a steady supply of eggs for the family breakfast. 

Her hands were never idle, whether tending to the garden, canning fresh produce, or cleaning house. While doing ranch work she would raise a garden and canned hundreds of quarts of green beans and pickles and lots of frozen corn when she was able to beat out the skunks, coons and deer. In addition to raising a garden, she took great pride in caring for and maintaining the yard around the house her father built in the late 1930s.

Eleanor was a key contributor to the sheep operation, assisting with the newborns before breaking away to prepare the noon meal for all of the folks working on the lambing or shearing crew. Eleanor often claimed she wasn't a great cook, but anyone that sat at her table knew otherwise, frequently asking for seconds if they were available, especially her mashed potatoes. 

Eleanor rode thousands of miles alongside her husband, packing provisions and salt to the sheep camps in the “high country” each summer. She'd help with moving cattle from the lower elevations to the mountain and then help trail them home in the fall, always ensuring the crew had sandwiches and cookies to keep them going. Whenever there was work to be done in the sheep corrals, Eleanor was there. While she could hold her own working both cattle and sheep she would admit that her heart belonged to the sheep.

In addition to all of the ranch work and even though not an avid sports fan, she always made an effort to attend school functions like the home football and basketball games her sons played. There were probably times she felt the referees weren't the best but she would never think to “boo” their efforts - such behavior simply wasn’t in her nature. 

Eleanor was active in the Hyattville Methodist Church and always joined the other community members in organizing the annual “church dinner” to help raise funds to support the church.

As she and her husband began to slow down, somewhere in their late 70's they took the opportunity to travel to places around the United States and even to Canada and Australia. While Eleanor enjoyed seeing new places, she never liked to stay more than a day or so at any one place. When she set out to go someplace, she preferred to drive straight through and wasn't prone to stop short of her destination. Her husband, on the other hand, liked to stop along the way, often striking up conversations with strangers, while Eleanor would gently remind him they needed to get going. With all of their travels however, coming back to the ranch was always her favorite part of the trip.

Eleanor, like many other ranch women, worked hard to ensure there were healthy calves and lambs to sell in the fall. She preserved food from her garden to help offset grocery costs and continued to pitch in wherever she was needed, even into her 80s. The work on a ranch never ends. Her legacy is one of love, faith, and the enduring strength of a ranch wife.

She is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Merle Hamilton, her parents and brother. She is survived by her sons Keith and Linda (Yeager) Hamilton of Hyattville, Ken and Kathy (Weirauch) Hamilton of Laramie, her grand children Diane (Hamilton) and Curt Cox of Casper, Doug and Michelle (Vigil) Hamilton of Worland, Ian Hamilton of Sheridan, and her great grandchildren Carter and Cooper Cox of Casper and Aspyn and Burgess Hamilton of Worland.

Eleanor wished to be cremated, and Newcomer Funeral Home in Casper honored her request. Her obituary and guest book can be found on their website.

Services are scheduled for Tuesday March 4th at 1:00 pm at the Hyattville Community Center

Those wishing to donate to the Hyattville Volunteer Fire Department or the Hyattville Community Center can do so in Eleanor's name.