Rick Dunne's Celebration of Life
Rick's Obituary
By Cody, Deke, and Claire Dunne
Richard Anthony Dunne (67) died at home the evening of November 11th after a 15-year tarantella with leukemia. Rick was preceded in death by his father Joe, and succeeded by his wife Claire; mother; sons Cody (Kim) of Boston and Deke of Washington, DC; brother Marty (Linda) of Nashville, and sister Sara (Greg) of Grand Rapids, Mich.; and many close cousins, nieces, nephews, and one grandson so far!
Who doesn't have fond memories of Rick, the grizzled rock hunter in a floppy hat, who wandered in and out of the colorful Willwood? He liked to read, travel the world with Claire, explore the rock formations of the West, and understand how the Earth is put together. He was grateful to live in Wyoming, rather than somewhere where greenery obscures all the interesting rocks. With ten years in college and a life-long love of learning, he became a Renaissance man: an economist, inventor, historian, political scientist, geologist, paleontologist, archaeologist, botanist, and farmer. He could strike up a serious discussion with anyone on most any topic, sprinkled with his own brand of pointed humor. He was loving, caring, dedicated, funny, and thoughtful. Most of all he was a wonderful father and husband who we will sorely miss.
Rick was born August 7, 1947, in Salt Lake City, to Lois Jean Picht and Joe Geis, and at age five was adopted by Joe Dunne. Directly after high school Rick went to work alongside his father as a trackman at the Bingham Canyon copper mine. While in college and working as a blackjack dealer in Reno, he discovered his own sense of humor. He told people the truth about gaming, Casino gambling is the most honest business there is: what other business tells you that you will get nothing of value for your money?
Ah, enter Claire Gabriel. They immediately fell in love and were married in May of 1983. Apparently he was so twitterpated he let Claire talk him into becoming a seed collector. They saw little of each other that first year, running crews in different states. In order to start a family they settled down in Manderson where two little seed pickers were born. There they founded the Wind River Seed company, which supplies seed mixes for revegetation projects throughout the West. His neighbors helped him figure out how to farm, and could see him plow through a field of kochia wearing his Manderson Marching Band hat. During this time Rick served on the South Big Horn County Hospital Board and as a volunteer firefighter. In 2000 he was diagnosed with leukemia, but as anyone who knew him can attest, Rick had a tenacious zest for life.
In 2007 Rick and Claire sold the seed business and moved to Worland, but kept the dream alive growing sagebrush and wildflowers at Absaroka Farm south of town. He also served as president of the Wyoming section of the Society of Range Management, and was awarded Outstanding Man of the Range for his work with native plants. The highlight of his career was being invited to speak at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where everyone called him Dr. Dunne. Rick was also involved in helping make Worland a better place, including teaching two Master Gardener classes. His passion in his final years was the creation of Washakie Museum and Cultural Center, for which he helped design the exhibits.
It is only fitting then that our celebration of Rick's life will be held at the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center. It is scheduled for the evening of February 7, 2015, to coincide with the birth of John Deere.
Peter Wolf Toth Trail of the Whispering Giants
Peter Toth created 74 Whispering Giants all are in all 50 states 1 in Canada, and even one in Hungary. Interesting fact is that they all resemble natives of the region that they are located in. The basic tools he used to create these were a hammer and chisel...and on occasion he used a mallet and an axe. He rarely ever used power tools to create these beautiful pieces of art. I hope everyone will be able to find them and let me know more about them with either photos or through a video.
List and date of when these masterpieces were created
1972, February La Jolla California
1972, Summer Akron Ohio
1973, January DeLand Florida
1973, February Colquitt (U.S. Highway 27) Georgia
1973, April Dothan (Houston-Love Memorial Library) Alabama
1973, June Sharon Pennsylvania
1973, August Dunkirk (Route 5, Lake Shore Drive West) New York
1973, December Cleveland (Museum Center at 5ive Points)
Tennessee
1974, January Punta Gorda (Holiday Inn, 300 Retta Esplanade)
Florida
1974, October Vancouver Washington
1975, February New Orleans Louisiana
1975, April Little Rock (Arkansas Arts Center) Arkansas
1975, June Fort Wayne Indiana
1975, August Lansing (Potter Park Zoo) Michigan
1975, October Sparland Illinois
1975, December Ocean Springs (Davidson Park) Mississippi
1976, March Wilmington North Carolina
1976, May Virginia Beach (Mount Trashmore City Park) Virginia
1976, July Atlantic City New Jersey
1976, September Ocean City (South Second Street & Baltimore Avenue) Maryland
1976, December Bethany Beach Delaware
1977, February Charleston South Carolina
1977, May St. Louis (Forest Park) Missouri
1977, July Two Harbors (Information Center 8, Highway 61 East) Minnesota
1977, September Hayward (Carnegie Library) Wisconsin
1977, November Desert Hot Springs (Cabot's Pueblo Museum) California
1978, June Iowa Falls Iowa
1978, September Troy (Doniphan County Courthouse) Kansas
1979, May Broken Bow Oklahoma
1979, August Loveland (2033 Waterdale Drive, Rock Ridge Ranch) Colorado
1979, October Red Lodge (Red Lodge Library) Montana
UNKNOWN DATE : Winslow (Winslow Visitor Center) Arizona
1980, May Texarkana Texas
1980, July Lincoln (Lincoln Indian Center) Nebraska
1980, September Worland (Washakie County Courthouse) Wyoming
1980, November Idaho Falls (North Tourist Park, Lincoln Road and North Yellowstone Highway) Idaho
1981, June Aberdeen (Anderson Park) South Dakota
1981, August Mandan (Stage Stop, 601 6th Avenue Southeast)
North Dakota
1981, October Valdez (Prince William Sound Community College) Alaska
1982, May Osceola Iowa
1982, July Narragansett (Sprague Memorial Park) Rhode Island
1982, October Groton Connecticut
1983, May Ft. Lauderdale (Seminole Indian tribe trading post)Florida
1983, August Plymouth (Tourist Information Center, Route 3, Exit 5) Massachusetts
1983, October Bar Harbor Maine
1984, July Burlington (Battery Park) Vermont
1984, September Laconia (Opechee Park) New Hampshire
1984, November Springfield (Forest Park) Massachusetts
1985, May Paducah (Bob Noble Park) Kentucky
1985, August Akron (Fairlawn Elementary School) Ohio
1985 Salt Lake City(City Park) Utah
1986 Reno (Idlewild Park) Nevada
1986, August Las Cruces (Apodaca Park) New Mexico
1987 Astoria (Youngs Bay Bridge) Oregon
1987, September Hillsboro (Hillsboro Public Library, Shute Park) Oregon
1988, May Hale'iwa (59-254 Kamehameha Highway, between Sunset Beach and Sunset Beach Elementary School) Hawaii
1988, October Wakefield (Dock on Sunday Lake) Michigan
1989 Utica(Starved Rock State Park) Illinois
1989, September Cherokee (Museum of the Cherokee Indian)
North Carolina
1992 Winnipeg Beach (In the Town Square) Manitoba, Canada
1990 Williamsport Pennsylvania
2008 Délegyháza, Hungary
2009 Vincennes (First and Hart streets) Indiana