Doris Jean Dickson: 1943 – 2024
Doris Jean Dickson passed away on December 21, 2024, at Life Care Center of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Doris was born on January 26, 1943, in Louisville, Kentucky. She served in the United States Air Force from September 25, 1961, until July 8, 1968. She was in Personal Affairs/Casualty Assistance during the Vietnam War and received many awards from her military service.
She retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs on January 1, 1997, as a supervisor of the unit. She also retired from the Laramie County Sheriff’s Department as a Records Specialist in May 2012, but continued to work there until September 30, 2018.
She was active in many civic organizations during her earlier years.
Doris was affiliated with the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Cheyenne.
She was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) in 2020.
Doris is survived by her daughter, Deborah (Bill) of Cheyenne; brother, Tom (Jackie) of Elizabeth, Indiana; sisters, Martha (Greg) and Sharon (Murl) of Mt. Washington, Kentucky; sister, Joyce (Roger) of Louisville, Kentucky; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was proceeded in death by husband, Doug of Cheyenne on August 24, 2001; and her parents, Patrick and Viola Johnson of Louisville, Kentucky.
She had requested that no services be held. Cremation has taken place. She will be inurned at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Colorado with her husband.
Daniel “Dan” G. Blythe: 1950 – 2024
Daniel Gordon Blythe, Esq., father, adventurer, and long-time member of the Cheyenne community died at his home on Monday in the company of his sister, Rebecca Martindale, Ashley Miller, and his grandson, Eli Blythe. He was 74.
Born March 26, 1950, the first child of Ruth and Jack Blythe of Oklahoma City, his family moved north when Jack was offered a faculty position in the Department of Geology at Wichita State University in Kansas, Ruth’s hometown. After graduating from high school in 1968, Dan attended WSU and then Washburn University School of Law before moving to Wyoming in 1977, where he practiced law in his own firm and then as a litigator for the Federal Public Defender’s office until his retirement in 2016.
A master advocate with professor’s command of the law, Dan combined precision and empathy with a fidelity to the United States Constitution providing astute counsel and quality representation to all of his clients.
His head was in the law, but his passion was for adventure, stirred by his Uncle Austin who let the baby-boomer children run free at the family farm outside Wichita. His uncle also found his first employment at a local bicycle shop. A love of two wheels soon included a motor when he purchased a 150cc Honda to travel to and from his college employment in Rocky Mountain National Park. After establishing himself as an attorney in the late 1970s and early 80s, he upgraded to a Cessna earning his pilots’ license in 1986 and spending much of the ‘80s and ‘90s flying his 172 around Wyoming, Northern Colorado, and Western Nebraska.
Two sons and a family cabin brought new people and a new place with whom to share his passion for adventure and exploration as the three of them hiked, backpacked, fished, and hunted their way around the Medicine Bow mountains.
As he introduced his boys to his passions, they showed him theirs. He moved the family to a small acreage north of town, built a barn and an arena so Patrick and Robert could practice team roping, steer wrestling, and calf roping, with the occasional, and impromptu, saddle bronc riding clinic.
Cultivating and honing a love of rodeo while driving his sons and trailing their horses around the Rocky Mountain West, Dan brought that knowledge back to his hometown when he began volunteering for Cheyenne Frontier Days in the late 1990s. By 2009 he became a member of the Heels Committee where he helped to establish both the Cowboy’s Bistro and Cowboy’s Shuttle.
As his sons made lives of their own and the arena returned to the prairie, he traveled around Europe with friends and family while saving the Americas for solo trips on his motorcycles, including a 2014 motorcycle-trip through Mexico and Belize along with numerous adventures throughout the United States and Canada.
Dan is survived by his sister, Becca; brother, Andy; two sons, Patrick and Robert; their spouses, Jean and Katy; and two grandchildren, Eli and Elizabeth. The time and place of a celebration of life will be announced later.
Joyce JoAnn Klissus: 1937 – 2024
Joyce JoAnn Klissus of Cheyenne passed away on Dec. 23 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was born on August 18, 1937 in Warrens, Wisconsin.
Joyce married Tony Klissus in September of 1957 in Lucedale, Mississippi and joined him in his Naval career of 20 years. Joyce was a nurse who worked in various locations all while raising a family in the process.
Joyce is survived by her husband, Tony, of 67 years; her eldest son, Anthony IV; her younger son, Christopher Mark of Ridgecrest, California; as well as her youngest brother, Allen Paddock of Machesney Park, Illinois.
Joyce is preceded in death by her parents, Silas and Louise Paddock; her older brother, Gerald Paddock; and her younger brother, David Paddock.
A vigil for the deceased will take place at Schrader Funeral Home (2222 Russell Ave in Cheyenne) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. A funeral mass will be held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan, 3, 2025. A committal service will be held at Olivet Cemetery in Cheyenne Wyoming immediately after the Funeral Mass.
