LAGRANGE – John W. Sussex, age 92, of LaGrange, passed away Feb. 27, 2019, at the Veteran’s Administration Nursing Home in Cheyenne. Services were held March 6 at the Bear Creek Church, LaGrange.
John was born April 30, 1926 in Goodland, Kan., to Fred L. and Nora (McDaniel) Sussex.
After living on a farm with his parents 16 miles northeast of Goodland, they moved to Colorado. While attending high school in Ft. Morgan, Colo., in 1944, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, he joined the Army and was inducted at Ft. Logan, Colo. He was later transferred to Ft. Riley, Kan., to train horses in the cavalry.
While stationed in Melbourne, Australia, he and one of his buddies were on a ship in the Indian Ocean headed to Calcutta, India. The ship was torpedoed, broken in half, and everyone was told to abandon ship. He and 16 other servicemen were on two rafts for seven days before being rescued. He always said the sad part about that was watching the mules wash away. He truly was one of the Greatest Generation.
He arrived home in August 1946, helping his dad the rest of the summer. He broke horses and went to a GI Flight School. He then worked at the VV ranch northwest of Nederland, Colo. There he met his wife Juanita “Neats” Miller. They were married in November 1949 and were married for 69 years until her death in 2017.
After working on ranches in Colorado and Montana, they settled in Wyoming, working for the Jensen/Heckman Ranch as ranch manager for 30 years. After the ranch sold, they bought their own place, raising their own cattle, breeding paint horses and working at the Torrington Livestock sale barn for 12 years. They retired from the sale barn, but continued raising horses, goats, and chickens on Bear Creek.
While living in Goshen County, John served as President of the Goshen County Stockgrowers and served on the Goshen County School Board. He also helped start the Bear Creek Guys and Gals 4-H Club. In 2016, he and his wife were inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Memorials can be made to the Bear Creek Guys and Gals, Veteran’s Administration Volunteers, or of the donor’s choice.
He is survived by his sons, Tim (Sharon) of Bear Creek, Mike (Michele) of Torrington, grandchildren Dawn Sussex of Keenesburg, Colo.; Danielle (Scott) of Byers, Colo.; Tansey (Chris) Raga Sussex of Glendale, Ariz.; Mac (Celsie) of Hawk Springs; Austin Sussex of Cheyenne, and; Whitney (Tom) Vasquez of Pine Bluffs; great-grandchildren Ainsley, Brayden, and Luxton Sauer, Icecyss Rae’elle Sussex, Aria and Ryker Sussex, Brooklynne, Everlynne, and Asher Vasquez.
He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, one brother, two sisters, and granddaughter, Becky Sussex.
