Ruth Marie Pownall

Funeral service for Ruth M. Pownall, 96, of Gillette, WY will be held 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at First Baptist Church with Pastor Donovan Voight officiating; interment to follow at Mount Pisgah Cemetery in Gillette, WY. Ruth Marie Hord Pownall passed away of natural causes at Legacy Living Center, surrounded by all of her children and close family members. She was born in Bowling Green, Missouri August 7, 1920, to Lewis Bryan and Erma Bee (Seeger) Hord. Ruth moved to Los Angeles, California when she was three years old. Her father worked for the Union Pacific Railroad and was transferred back and forth over the years between Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles. Ruth graduated from the eighth grade in 1934 from Las Vegas, Nevada and from Benjamin Franklin High School in Los Angeles, California in 1938. She attended Kaiser Business College in Los Angeles in 1939. Ruth married Jack Pownall May 26, 1942, and they moved to Wyoming to make their home on the ranch Northeast of Gillette. To this union was born five children, Bryan (Judy), Judy, Jeannie, Terry and Bill (Jamey). While Jack Pownall was in the U.S. Navy, during World War II, she lived in California with her parents and worked for the U.S. Army at Yermo H&R Point as a teletype operator. After the war, she moved back to Wyoming in 1946 and taught school close to the ranch. Ruth worked at the George Amos Memorial Library and also Campbell County Public Library and served on the library board for many years. She was a member of the Campbell County Cattle Women, Gentian Order of the Eastern Star and the First Baptist Church. She loved to bowl and traveled the U.S. to many tournaments with her bowling team. She and her good friends, Ila and Frances, also would love to go on outings in Deadwood, South Dakota. She is survived by her five children, ten grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. She was proceeded in death by her husband Jack, her parents and two brothers; Harold and Howard Hord. Ruth was a kind and generous woman and she will be very missed by her family and friends. The family requests that memorials be made in Ruth's name to Close to Home Hospice House. Memorials and condolences may be sent in care of Gillette Memorial Chapel 210 West 5th Street, Gillette, WY 82716. Condolences may also be expressed at www.gillettememorialchapel.comFuneral Home:Gillette Memorial Chapel210 West Fifth Street Gillette, WYUS 82716