Leroi Edward Tregear

LeRoi E. Tregear, age 91, passed away February 17, 2013 at Wyoming Medical Center after a short illness. Memorial services will be conducted at the Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery, Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 1:00. A gathering will be at the Caddy Shack at the Casper Municiple Golf Course from 3-6. He was born in Silverbow-Butte Montana December 5, 1921 to Ella-Belangie and LeRoi Tregear. Along with his younger brother, George was raised by his Aunt Mae and Uncle George Koval in Walkerville, Montana. He had many stories of his childhood years living in this mining town.

Two years after he graduated from Butte High School he had joined the Army Air Corp and was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. For the next 3 years he flew on several missions in the South Pacific as a bombardier. On a couple of occasions he had to jump into the deep dark waters of the Pacific Ocean because his plane was on fire. Luckily he was rescued and survived the World War II. After the war, he served the last year of his stint at the Casper Air Station.

It was at the Casper Municipal pool that a young beautiful blond, Dorothy Louise Clemens, caught his eye. They married October 14, 1944. They remained in Casper and had three children, Ron, LeRai and Cindy. An infant daughter, Judith Lynn, was born but only lived 4 days. Later on he had several grandchildren. From Ronnie's side there was Sean, Ryan, Rhonda, and Jamie. LeRai's children were Sara and Alex. The Blanton Boys, Scott and Eric were Cindy and Greg's children. Dad loved his grandchildren and provided many hours of lap time. There is not one grandchild who can't remember the warmth and comfort sitting on grandpa's lap in his recliner. He also is survived by 8 great grandchildren.

LeRoi, (later known as Treg) worked at Standard Oil for 40 years. He was a pipefitter and worked on several pieces of equipment and machinery. One of his main duties was maintaining the Cat Cracker. I remember as a child the many hours of overtime he put into the company when something went array. He was the first one they called. It was here that he made many friends that became his work family. There were many picnics, Christmas parties and get-togethers I remember attending as a kid. It was a memorable time.

Dad's main passion was golf, because he was darn good at it. He played in many tournaments and won extravagant prizes such as Ping Golf Clubs, sport shirts and free rounds of golf. For many years after he retired, he and two other golf addicts would trek off to California and Nevada for 3 weeks of golf heaven. He never seemed to tire of the game. He passed down his passion to his younger daughter Cindy who was just as good of a golfer as he. They enjoyed many tee times together while Mom would drive the golf cart.

Although he was a manly man, Dad was notorious for his beautiful Christmas bows. He dived into this hobby when he bought my mother a Christmas present and wanted to have it wrapped specially for her. After paying dearly for the bow and wrapping, he decided that he could make the bow for a fourth of the cost. Consequently, he embarked every year making Christmas bows for every present under the tree. The presents under our tree were so beautiful it was a shame to open them on Christmas day. His bows have traveled many miles around the world. While he lived in Garden Square, he kept his hands busy making these beautiful decorations for several of the residents and staff. Every year the Christmas tree had several of the sparkly bows on it.

Dad was also a devoted father and took care of my mother when she became very sick. During her sickness, he became a mother hen taking care of her until she passed away in 1999. It seemed like there was one tragedy after another when my brother Ronnie passed away in 2001. Five years later we had to say goodbye to my little sister, Cindy.

After a terrible fall in 2008, he decided that he was not able to live by himself. He lived his remaining years at Garden Square Assisted living where he was well taken care of by the staff until he passed away. We all should be so lucky to have had such a good life.

He is missed by all those who knew and loved him. He was an ordinary man who lived an ordinary life but he brought such richness to all those who knew him. I was so fortunate to be his daughter and to have had the privilege of taking care of him in the manner that he took care of me when I was a child. I know that he is with my mother, brother, sister and friends he preceded in death.