Velma Fern (STEINKAMP) EATON

STEINKAMP, EATON, SWEARINGEN, GRUBB, HARPER, SHANNON

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 11/22/2010 at 00:47:06

Rapid City Journal
Rapid City, South Dakota
Saturday, January 24, 1998

OBITUARY - VELMA FERN EATON

SUNDANCE, Wyo. -- Velma Fern EATON, 93, of Sundance, died Friday, Jan. 23, 1998, in the Crook County Nursing Home in Sundance.

Velma was born Aug. 19, 1904, in Tingley, Iowa. She was the oldest daughter of John and Eleanor (SWEARINGEN) STEINKAMP and came to Upton, Wyo. by railroad from Nebraska in 1916.

She attended school in Sundance and then at a rural school on Houston Creek, the first rural school in Crook County to hold winter sessions.

Velma married Gerald James EATON on Jan. 1, 1924, in Sundance. They lived and worked on ranches in Crook County. Gerald passed away in May [27] of 1953.

Velma was on of the first cooks at the Crook County Memorial Hospital. Later, she worked for Jessie JOHNSTON. She also worked for the STEIGERS on the J. H. Ranch at Hulett, Wyo. She lived in Hulett for many years until entering the Crook County Nursing Home at Sundance in 1995.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two sisters, a brother, a son [John William in infancy, 1929], and her husband.

She is survived by two daughters, Fern GRUBB-HARPER of Spearfish, S.D., and Clara Mae SHANNON of Madera, Calif.; and a son, Leonard EATON, Gillette, Wyo. She is also survived by nine grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; a brother, Russell STEINKAMP of Sunnyside, Wash.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial has been established for Miller Creek Cemetery.

Memorial services in Hulett are pending with Fidler-Roberts Sundance Chapel. [Intermen at Miller Creek Cemetery near Hulett, Wyoming.]

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2010