Ernest Reynolds

Funeral services for Ernest Francis Reynolds, Jr. will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, November 23, 2013, at Gillette Memorial Chapel with Pastor Bill Morel of Family Life Church officiating. Burial will follow in Mt. Pisgah Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4:00-7:00 p.m., Friday, November 22, 2013 at Gillette Memorial Chapel.Ernest Francis Reynolds, Jr., age 84, of Gillette, Wyoming passed away surrounded by loved ones on Tuesday, November 19, 2013, at Pioneer Manor Nursing Home of natural causes.Ernest was born on January 5, 1929, to Earnest Francis and Zella (Hopper) Reynolds at their Ozark home on Possum Walk near Scotland, Arkansas. He was the fourth of six children born to this union. As a child he helped tend to the family farm and learned to make due with very little as the great depression was under way. The family traveled together several times from their home in the Ozarks to California to work in the fruit harvests. This led to Ernest attending schools in both Arkansas and California. He graduated from Alread High School in Alread, Arkansas in 1949. After attending college in Russellville, Arkansas, he soon found himself drawn in the timber industry in northern California. It was there that the met his future wife of 63 years, Helen Patricia Martin. On September 19, 1949, they traveled to Carson City, Nevada where they were married with her mother as a witness. They were blessed with four children: Johnny Dwayne in 1950, Thomas Keith in 1954, George Ernest in 1956 and Rebecca Ann in 1967. The couple joked every time they moved away and then back to the Arcata, California area they had an addition to their family. In March of 1970, they moved to Mackey, Idaho and later on to Arco and Inkom, Idaho and Superior, Wisconsin before arriving in Gillette, Wyoming in December of 1979. While in California, Idaho and Wisconsin, he worked in the timber industry, both in the woods as a logger and in sawmills as a sawyer and millwright a trade he was very proud of. Ernest began working for KG Construction on his birthday in 1980 and worked there for over 20 years. After leaving KG Construction, he drove bus "Part-time" to the mines for Powder River Transportation and managed the apartments he and his wife had bought "full-time". Ernest loved spending time with friends and family and this often meant trips to Arkansas, Montana and California. He truly enjoyed spending time with his kids and grandkids and you could see the sparkle in his eyes when he talked of them or when they came to visit. He could often be found in a gym watching his granddaughters play basketball and always had a word of praise for all the players after a game. Ernest is survived by his sons: Johnny (Nicolas) Reynolds and George Reynolds, both of Gillette, Wyoming; daughter, Rebecca (John Sharp, Jr.) Holdeman of Moorcroft, Wyoming; daughter-in-law, Angela Peterson, of Sun Valley, Idaho; sisters, Margaret Elliott of Benton, Arkansas, Ruth Watson of Clinton, Arkansas and Zella Bea (Richard) Novotny of Spokane, Washington; fourteen grandchildren: Kyle (Jodie) Moe of Corinth, Mississippi, Tyson (Monique) Reynolds of Rochester, Minnesota, Jason Reynolds , Stephanie (Flint) Mathews, Brandon (Nichole) Reynolds and Justin Reynolds all of the Hyrum, Utah area; Thomas (Stacy) Reynolds Jr., Christopher (Starla) Reynolds, Chad (Tiffany) Reynolds, Kelsey Schwindt, Krista (Alex Kelley) Schwindt, all of Gillette, Wyoming, and Kamryn Holdeman of Moorcroft, Wyoming, Casey (Evelyn) Reynolds of Champaign, Illinois and Kayla (Todd) Zenor of Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; twenty-nine great-grandchildren, one great great grandson and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years on February 1, 2013; his parents and grandparents; son, Thomas Keith Reynolds Sr.; brothers, Herbert Glenwood Reynolds and Eugene Gerald Reynolds; son-in-law, Ted Holdeman; brothers-in-law, James Elliott and Monroe Watson; a great-grandchild and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.Memorials and condolences may be sent in Ernest's name in care of Gillette Memorial Chapel, 210 W. 5th Street, Gillette, Wyoming 82716 or via the internet.Funeral Home:Gillette Memorial Chapel210 West Fifth Street Gillette, WYUS 82716