Wyoming
Obituaries: Buckingham; Lockwood; West; Landers; Carpenter; Mullin; Stapleton
Anna Eunice Buckingham: 1941 – 2026
Funeral services for Anna Buckingham, 84-year-old Buffalo resident who passed away Monday, April 6, will be held on Friday, April 17 at 2 p.m. at the Harness Funeral Home Chapel in Buffalo with Pastor Paul Gilbert officiating.
Interment will be in Willow Grove Cemetery with graveside committal service to immediately follow the funeral. Donations in Anna’s memory may be made to the Grace Fellowship Building Fund at 108 N. Burritt in Buffalo, Wyoming, or the Learning Tree Christian School at 820 W Fetterman Street Buffalo, 82834.Online condolences may be made at www.harnessfuneralhome.com.
M Joyce Lockwood: 1942 – 2026
Our mother was born on December 14, 1942 to Jim and Thelma Kramer in Tucson, Arizona. She and her sisters (Joan and Jerry) grew up in Longmont, Colorado. She dreamed of being a vet one day and enrolled at Colorado State. While at college she met our father, Daniel Harbour, and soon they married. College would have to wait as within a short time, Thomas (1962) was born, followed by Stephen (1963) David (1965) and Joel (1968).
Our childhood was magical! Our refreshment chairman always had snacks, stories, hugs, and made the world’s best Christmas cookies! Sadly, the marriage ended. After a few years, mom introduced us to Harold Lockwood, who would become her husband and our dad in 1972. Through this marriage she gained another son, 12-year-old Steve (we now had a big Steve and a little Steve). Also, joining the family was daughter, 11-year-old Leslie, who lived with us part-time. Mom was raising five boys, six if you count Harold! Chaos, noise, dirt, broken walls, worry, more bills than money…paradise on earth for our mom.
Dad decided to move to Douglas, Wyoming and open a carpet and flooring store in 1976. Every woman dreams of packing up her life and moving to a tiny town! Mom was all in, supporting our dad and her family. They worked side-by-side and built a successful business. Mom did the books and managed the store while dad installed flooring and began teaching his sons the trade. Life can’t stay simple, big news, guess what? You are going to be a grandma! Leslie and her husband came to stay at our house. Five sons, a daughter, a new son-in-law, and a precious granddaughter, Nettie. Mom made a home for everyone. Helped care for the baby and our overwhelmed sister. She continued maintaining the house and working side-by-side with dad. Yet again life hit our mom with a curve ball. Tom was in a terrible dirt bike accident in 1981. Several times we were told Tom would not survive. Our mother’s dedication and faith resulted in Tom recovering beyond what anyone could have ever hoped for.
Life carried on, Leslie (Brian) had more kids (Nettie, DJ, Marcus, Nicky and Gabby). Big Steve had kids (Joshua, Crystal and Alicia). David had a son (Luke), sadly God only gave him a short time on earth. During this time in David’s life, he was a bit overwhelmed. He called our folks and said he needed them. They dropped everything to stand beside him. The earthly love of our mom and dad pulled David through. Life went on and mom and dad continued supporting and caring for all of us. Stephen (Ann) had a daughter and sons (Stevie Rae, Jacob and Lucas). David (Kristl) had more kids (Luke, Blake, Ivy, Anastasia, Isaac and Nevaeh). Joel (Tara) had four kids (Megan, Cassie, Ethan, and Amaya). Mom loved being Grandma Lockwood.
Sadly, Harold passed in 2019, they had 47 happy years together. Mom will be buried next to dad on the family’s land in Rist Canyon, Colorado on May 30 at noon. A memorial reception will follow at 2 p.m. at the Howling Cow Café in Bellevue.
Garrett Tyler West: 1978 – 2026
Garrett Tyler West, 48, of Gillette, Wyoming, passed away on April 4, 2026, in Winnemucca, Nevada.
Garrett was born on February 10, 1978, in Laramie, Wyoming, to Lanny and Linette West. He grew up in the small town of Hanna, Wyoming, where he developed his lifelong love for the Wyoming outdoors. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Wyoming, a path that perfectly matched his adventurous spirit and deep appreciation for the land he called home.
To know Garrett was to know someone who lived life fully and with great heart. He loved nothing more than hunting and fishing, immersing himself in Wyoming’s great outdoors—whether it was early mornings in the field, casting a line on a quiet lake, or simply soaking in the beauty of the landscapes that surrounded him. His daughters Shelby and Scarlett were the absolute center of his world, and his grandchildren Sophia and Matthew brought him endless joy and pride. He cherished every moment spent with them, creating memories that his family will hold onto forever.
Garrett was also a devoted movie buff with a quick wit and a movie quote ready for nearly any situation. He could lighten the mood or make a point with just the right line, often leaving everyone laughing. One of the family’s favorite stories was the notorious Bigfoot sighting he shared with his brother-in-law, Wayne—a tale that grew more legendary with every retelling and never failed to bring smiles around the table. In his early adult years in Laramie, he was inseparable from his loyal dog Bandit, and more recently, his beloved dog Nocona was his constant companion.
Garrett’s warmth, humor, and love for his family touched everyone who knew him. He was a proud father, grandfather, son, brother, and uncle who found his deepest happiness in the simple things: time spent with loved ones, days in the wilderness, and the everyday moments that made life meaningful.
He is survived by his daughters, Shelby (Bryce) West and Scarlett Phillips; grandchildren, Sophia and Matthew Salzer; parents, Lanny and Linette West; sister, Christina (Wayne) Tucker; nephew, Jordan (Ross) Tucker; and niece, Ashlie (Justice) Tucker.
Garrett was preceded in death by his grandparents: June and Harold West and Max and Mae Case.
Though his time with us was far too short, Garrett’s spirit lives on in the stories we’ll continue to tell, the love he poured into his family, and the Wyoming wilderness he cherished so deeply. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
James Walter Landers: 1946 – 2026
James Walter Landers, 79, passed away February 12, 2026, after a courageous battle with colon cancer.
Jim was born in Casper, Wyoming, to Minerva and Harvey Landers and graduated from Natrona County High School in 1965. During high school, he played bugle in the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps. He attended the University of Wyoming and went on to earn his dental degree from Creighton University School of Dentistry in 1974.
After a brief period practicing in Gillette, Jim moved to Cody in 1977, where he opened his dental practice and served the community for nearly four decades. Known for his humor and genuine interest in others, he cared for generations of families.
He was active in his profession, serving as President of the Wyoming Dental Association and as a national dental examiner. He was also inducted into the International College of Dentists.
Jim was active in ski racing, serving as a Technical Delegate for races across Wyoming and Montana.
He was known for his generosity, wit, and playful sense of humor. He enjoyed cooking, gardening, woodworking, and traveling throughout the American West and internationally.
His proudest role was being a father. He raised his daughter, MacKenzie, on his own from the time she was two and remained deeply proud of her throughout his life. He was also a devoted grandfather.
He is survived by his daughter, MacKenzie Landers Thorn; and his grandchildren, Kingsley Thorn and Landers Thorn. He was preceded in death by his parents, Minerva and Harvey Landers, and is also survived by his sister, Patty and many dear friends.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Cody Methodist Church in Cody, Wyoming, on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 11 a.m.
A full obituary is available at www.ballardfh.com.
Barbara Kidd Carpenter: 1936 – 2026
Barbara Kidd Carpenter, 89, from Casper, Wyoming. Daughter of Wyoming pioneer families, Lucille Love Kidd (of Hanna) and David Kidd (of Casper).
Barbara was a loving, respectful, and proud woman who cherished her large extended family and friends. We all admired her tenacity, love for family, and genuine interest in her loved ones’ lives. Her generosity and close connection to her family made her a wonderful gift, and she was renowned for her gift-giving.
She started school at Park Elementary, a few blocks from home, graduated from NCHS, and then attended the University of Wyoming, where she was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Athletics played a pivotal role in shaping Barbara’s life, encompassing a diverse range of activities such as alpine ski racing, swimming, hunting, fishing, tennis, and golf. Throughout her journey, she relentlessly pushed the boundaries of her physical abilities and the capabilities of her equipment. Joint replacements have emerged as a blessing in disguise, providing her with the mobility and support she needed to continue her athletic pursuits.
Barbara Kidd met and fell in love with her life partner, Dawn Carpenter, while they were attending the University of Wyoming after his Marine Corps service in the Korean War. Barbara and Dawn had five spirited and active children who filled their house with adventure, lively conversations, and the presence of people. Their extended family and friends were always visiting, and there were many celebrations throughout the years. Her family of five kids: Kim Nyenhuis of Fort Collins, Colorado., Bill Carpenter of Anchorage, Alaska., Brad Carpenter of Casper, Wyoming, Kristin Carpenter Queen of Casper, Wyoming and Kelley Carpenter Klein; turned in 12 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
Barbara was a dedicated servant who held leadership roles in several community organizations, including the PEO Chapter Y, PTO for Crest Hill Elementary, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, and various community service groups. Community was of utmost importance to her.
This super fun, hilarious, and naughty lady is survived by her brother, Bill Kidd; five children; grandchildren; and great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dawn Carpenter; brothers, Tom Kidd and Bob Kidd.
Caryn Ann (Calder) Mullin: 1964 – 2026
Steve Oldham (Nikki) of Benson, Utah; and Jamie Klaassen (Jeff) of Queen Creek, Arizona.
Caryn is preceded in death by her husband, John Mullin; mother, Dodie Wenzel; and stepfather, Joe Wenzel.
Funeral services will be held April 3, 2026, 1 p.m. at 6521 N 2400 W, Amalga, Utah. Burial will be April 4, 2026, 2 p.m. in Dry Fork Cemetery, Vernal, Utah.
Donald Ray Stapleton: 1955 – 2026
Donald Ray Stapleton was born March 29, 1955, in Falls City, Nebraska to Raymond Lee and Lela Jean Stapleton. He passed away on April 7, 2026, in Casper, Wyoming and took his last breath in his GTO to the kingdom of our lord.
Donald lived in Kansas, Nebraska and Utah but spent a majority of his life in Wyoming. While living in Big Piney he met the love of his life, the vivacious Belle Wassenberg. They were married on August 24, 1974, and celebrated 51 years together. On June 7, 1979, they were blessed with their son, Solomon Perry Stapleton.
He enlisted in the Army in 1972 and was trained as a mechanic. Don had a variety of different career choices from rough neck to roustabout, lawn care, garbage collection, custodial, was a jack-of-all trades and a master of several.
In his leisure time he enjoyed the outdoors going rock hounding, four-wheeling, ghost town exploring and back roading. Don loved working on vehicles, especially classic muscle cars like his 1972 GTO. He also enjoyed watching NASCAR and was fortunate to attend a truck race in Las Vegas and a cup race in Atlanta. He was also a fan of football, basketball, baseball and the Olympics.
Don will be sorely missed for his sense of humor, generosity and tutelage of distressed children/people; i.e. Paddy Workman, Danny Bilbeisi and Joe and Donna Mae; that were welcomed into his home and became part of his family.
He is survived by his wife, Belle; sons, Sol and Dan; daughter-in-law, Andrea; grandsons, Ernie and Jude; brothers, Robert and Paddy; sister, Linda; half-sisters, Michelle and Cheryl; and many cousins, aunts and uncles and friends.
May God speed him on his next journey…
Services will be held Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at First Christian Church at 10 a.m.
A Graveside Service will be held Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at Plainview Cemetery in Big Piney, Wyoming at 11 a.m.
Related
Summer is Wyoming’s season for turning over rocks, poking into holes and walking with a perpetual hunch looking for snakes.
Herpalogists, the zoologists who study amphibians and reptiles, are out scouring the landscape and herping, the term used when they are actively flipping rocks and searching stream beds to find Wyoming’s elusive snakes in their native habitats.
Sometimes those finds can be unexpected. The fork-tongued reptiles appear on a trail when least expected.
Recently, a foot-long “nightcrawler” suddenly moved like a snake and slithered into the rocks, its tail disappearing into the shadows. Rather than a shapeshifter, this was an elusive rubber boa, Wyoming’s tiny constrictor snake that can look like a giant worm at first glance.
These rarely seen creatures are more common in the Cowboy State than most people realize.
“I personally don’t feel that any of our snakes in Wyoming are terribly rare,” said Matt Rasmussen, vice president of the Wyoming Herpetological Society. “However, a lot of them are very rarely encountered because they spend most of their lives either underground or under rocks.”
Rasmussen said most of the secretive snakes in Wyoming only come out at night or when conditions are right — typically warmer, humid times. The rubber boa, for instance, showed up on a day when it had rained and then the temperatures spiked hot.
Rasmussen helped found the new Herpetological Society two years ago to teach others to herp. He said it’s possible to learn more about our state by flipping rocks and seeing what is beneath.
“That’s the great thing with Wyoming,” Rasmussen said. “There is so little known about the herpetofauna — the frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles, etcetera — that live here, and so little known about their distribution.”
He said Wyoming is known for “large charismatic megafauna” such as bison, elk, moose and deer rather than the harder to find animals. As a result, no widespread surveying has been done on smaller non-game species. Wyoming Game and Fish has even asked for community members to help by reporting rarely seen reptiles and amphibians.
-
The Great Basin gopher snake is a non-venomous snake found primarily in the western United States and parts of southwestern Canada. You can find these snakes in a wide range of habitats; grasslands, woodlands, and deserts. -
The plains hognose snake can be mistaken for a rattlesnake but is harmless to humans. -
The Eastern yellow-bellied racer is incredibly fast, alert, and primarily hunts during the day using their sharp eyesight. Harmless to humans but feisty and will bite and musky-spray if cornered or handled. -
The smooth green snake is completely non-venomous, quite secretive and rarely seen. The Wyoming Natural Diversity Database said they are mostly found in localized pockets within southeast and south-central Wyoming and the Black Hills area. Their habitat are moist meadows, marshes, stream edges, open woods since they can camouflage in lush vegetation. This snake feeds almost exclusively on insects and spiders such as crickets, grasshoppers and caterpillars.
Elusive, Not Rare
While most people think of the more common bullsnake or venomous rattlesnake when discussing reptiles, Rasmussen said Wyoming is home to many harmless snakes.
According to Rasmussen, a few snakes, such as the colorful pale milk snake and rubber boa, could be considered rare in Wyoming. However, he believes they are just harder to find and most people are not aware of them unless they stumble across them.
“There’s the plains black-headed snake, which we really don’t know much about their distribution in Wyoming,” Rasmussen said. “They’re just not studied and have a limited habitat.”
This tan snake with a black head is small and feeds primarily on centipedes and ant eggs. Rasmussen cautions that when found, rather than kill the strange looking snakes that are harmless, report finding them to Wyoming Game and Fish and leave them in their habitat.
In this way, Rasmussen said, herping can be fun. He encourages people to get into the action.
“There are some other really small fossorial snakes like smooth green snakes, which live along creeks in the mountains and eat caterpillars and spiders,” Rasmussen said. “Then there’s the Black Hills red-bellied snake, which is a very small snake that eats slugs, worms and snails primarily.”
People are often surprised that Wyoming is home to such a large variety of snakes. He especially likes to show off a milk snake, which is harmless and eats lizards and even baby rattlesnakes.
“It is a beautiful, almost tropical-looking animal that lives right here,” Rasmussen said. “They are just rarely encountered.”
-
The northern rubber boa is found in the northwest corner of state such as Star Valley and east into the Bighorn Mountains. They are a small, docile, non-venomous constrictors that are rarely seen since they are excellent burrowers and climbers. The Wyoming Game and Fish consider them vulnerable/secretive and track sightings to help build their statewide database. -
The pale milk snake is not a venomous coral snake and is found in the Bighorn Basin, eastern plans and southeastern corner of Wyoming. They are rare to see because they spend their life hiding under rocks, within rocky outcrops, badland scarps, ponderosa pines, and shortgrass prairies according to the University of Wyoming. Since they are so secretive, spotting one in the wild is a rare treat and Wyoming Game and Fish is asking the public to report any sightings for their database. -
The plains black-headed snake is completely harmless because it’s mouth is too small to pierce human skin and its mild venom is for small invertebrates. Due to its secretive nature, it is rare to see one but they are known to be in southeastern Wyoming in the Platte and Carbon Counties. They are very small, secretive, burrowing snakes that spend almost all of their lives underground or hidden beneath rocks and logs, typically only surfacing at night. -
The bull snake or gopher snake is completely non-venomous but does not want you to know that. When threatened, they put on a dramatic show according to the National Park Service. The bullsnake will puff up their bodies, hiss loudly, flatten their head into a triangle and vibrate their tails in dry bush to mimic a rattlesnake. (Matt Rasmussen)
A New Snake & Frog Society
Rasmussen said the new society is trying to educate the community about these fascinating creatures in the Cowboy State that don’t get much attention, such as the skink, a short-legged lizard.
“We’re a group of herpetological enthusiasts who would like to spread the word, educate and do outreach about these animals,” he said.
This outreach includes presentations with live animals, field trips and a conference in November. Wyoming’s reptiles and amphibians remain a mystery, Rasmussen encourages reporting sightings on the app iNaturalist.
“Even if you don’t know what it is, post a picture because there are tens of thousands of experts who will identify that animal,” Rasmussen said. “That’s really important, especially for our herpetofauna in the state.”
He also pointed out that some Wyoming snakes are on the protected list, including the midget faded rattlesnake. They made the list, according to Rasmussen, because people were capturing them and they became popular in among owners who like to keep small venomous snakes as pets.
Rasmussen said awareness is the best protection for Wyoming’s elusive reptiles and he is excited to prove to residents that we don’t have rare snakes, only secretive ones.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
Wyoming
Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund awards $529K in grants, including several Fremont County projects
-
Movie Reviews5 minutes ago‘Balaramana Dinagalu’ review: A restrained look at the gangster mind
-
World17 minutes ago
A rights group warns Vietnam is ramping up arrests under broad laws to crush dissent
-
Lifestyle55 minutes ago‘House of the Dragon,’ Season 3, Episode 2: Honey, I’m home!
-
Technology1 hour agoChina’s Z.ai claims it can match Mythos on cybersecurity
-
World1 hour agoShipping giant warns Strait of Hormuz chaos is ‘new normal’ as Tehran shifts 4M barrels
-
Politics1 hour agoJacob Frey praises Somali community as Minnesota faces renewed scrutiny over fraud investigations
-
Sports1 hour agoJ.T. Poston posts a 12 on a single hole at Travelers Championship in stunning meltdown
-
Technology2 hours agoMidjourney’s wild body scanner scans you in water
