TORRINGTON – Thomas Lee Williamson was born December 4, 1937, to Tom and Anna Williamson in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. His boyhood was filled with adventures and his stories would fill pages, but suffice it to say, his pet woodchuck and skunk must have tested the patience of his mother and his two older sisters Donna and Doris. He graduated from Steamboat Springs High in 1955 and joined the Navy with two pals in 1956. He trained and served as an air traffic controller on the carrier Saratoga and traveled throughout the Mediterranean during his service, being based at South Weymouth, Massachusetts when stateside.
On leave in 1959, his father introduced him to Sally Green, and after a brief courtship, they married on August 7, 1959. He completed his military service and returned to the Yampa Valley where he worked at the REA in Steamboat before buying the family ranch from his dad. Two boys, Jim and Tom, arrived in close succession, and the family worked the ranch where they raised Herefords. Their daughter Lisa completed their family, shortly before the family moved to Meeker. An unfortunate set of financial setbacks sent the family searching for greener pastures and the family found what they were looking for in Ritzville, Washington, where Lee worked on the Harder Ranch from ‘76- ‘79. The call of the Yampa Valley proved strong, however, and they returned to live in Hayden.
Lee then worked for the Hayden Gulch Mine—coincidentally on land that had been purchased from Sally’s family in the late ‘70s. Though they lived in town, Lee and Sally bought 40 acres adjacent to Sally’s family ranch where Lee raised sheep with his grandson Daniel. After a mine layoff, he began working at Colowyo Coal, driving a 200-ton truck, where he worked until he retired. By that time, he and Sally had moved to Craig and after a time in town, they bought a hobby ranch south of town. During those years on Breeze Basin, he helped rescue an ultralight flyer who had a rough landing at the airport and a skier who broke a leg while cross country skiing. Both times, he nonchalantly called for paramedics, while keeping the men talking and comfortable.
When Lisa’s family planned a move to Torrington in 2006, Lee and Sally took it as a sign, since they’d looked there for retirement spots for several years. They put their place for sale in Craig, sold it, and closed on a property south of Torrington before Lisa and her husband closed on their own. Lee and Sally enjoyed their final years together in Torrington, and Lee found several neighbors and other ranchers who were kindred spirits, and the group had weekly breakfasts together at Deacon’s for several years. Covid hit Lee and Sally hard, and their final days were spent in the Goshen Care Center, though his thoughts were always on the ranch. One of his nurses from his final week at Community Hospital after breaking his hip said Lee told her he needed to “look for a red steer,” for although his ranching life had many peaks and valleys, tending his critters was his lifelong vocation. Lee passed at Community Hospital on July 23, with family by his side.
Lee was preceded in death by his parents and sisters, his wife Sally, brother-in-law Jerry Green, and grandson Matthew Williamson. He is survived by his sister-in-law Judy Green, children Jim (Debbie) Williamson, Tom (Dave Roberts) Williamson, and Lisa (Steve) Smith, grandchildren Martin (Jill) Williamson, Mitchell (Rebekah) Williamson, Michelle Koons, Daniel Smith, Christopher (Maddie) Smith, Cameron (Kaitlyn Lee) Smith, Jacob Chae, Adele (Andrew Hynes) Roberts-White, and eleven great-grandchildren.
