Clear, 39° F
(Oct. 28, 2006)
Memorial services are scheduled Friday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. at the Powell Veterans of Foreign Wars for Wesley Virgil Patton, 71, who died Saturday, Oct. 28 at his home in Ralston.
He was born in Collbran, Colo., Jan. 30, 1935 to Clarence and Pearl Patton. He attended school and worked in a sheep camp with his father during his childhood. At the age of 15, he left to work in the oil fields. Shortly after, he joined the U.S. Army and served two tours in Korea.
He married Wilma Ross in Naturita, Colo., on Sept. 11, 1957. He was then stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., where his first son, Delbert, was born in 1958. After being relocated to Bamburg, Germany for three years, his first daughter, Sharon, was born in 1960. He was released from the army in 1962 and went to work in the mines in Nucla, Naturita and Uravan, Colo. He also did ranch work, other mining jobs and worked in various oil fields throughout Colorado.
In 1963, his son, Wardell, was born in Montrose; then his daughter, Wanda, was born in 1965 in Glenwood Springs. Eventually the family moved to New Jersey where he worked in the horse racing industry. In Mount Holly, N.J., his youngest son, Weston, was born in 1969.
The family later moved back to Wyoming, venturing from Colorado to Utah, then settling in Wyoming. He held the commander post at the American Legion and was a member of the VFW.
He and his wife divorced in 1989.
Survivors include his two daughters, Sharon (and her life partner, Mike) and Wanda Vanderpool; son Weston and wife Heather; five grandsons, Danny, Jeremy, Justin, Jaymie, and Delayne; three granddaughters, Amanda, JeaLinda and Jolene; three great-grandchildren, Casey, Kinyon and Camryn; three brothers, Julius, Walter and Robert; and two sisters, Barbara and Joann.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two sons, Delbert Wayne (1981) and Wardell Allen (1985); two half-brothers, one half-sister; his little brother James; and two sons-in-law, Robert Vanderpool and Michael King.
