Ione Hoy Turnbull

Ione died Tuesday, March 17, 2015, at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper of complications due to pneumonia. She was 97.

Ione Alter was born on her family homestead near Jay Em to Anna (Hanson) Alter and Boynton "Bunt" Alter. She grew up on the homestead, attending Rawhide school for 10 years and then Lusk High School. After graduating in 1934, Ione staffed the Jay Em grocery store for a short period and then returned to ranch work with Bunt and Anna.

In 1941, Ione married her neighbor and schoolmate, Raymond Hoy. The couple soon moved to Denver, where Raymond worked in the Swift meat-packing plant and their daughter Jo Ann was born. Early in 1943, the family returned to the area to take up ranching on a property adjacent to Bunt and Anna's. They raised sheep and ran a small dairy, successfully building the business until Raymond's death in an airplane accident in 1952. Ione remained on the ranch and often made light of her ability to handle it by herself, saying those were good years for running sheep. She gave credit to Jo Ann for her daily help, and to neighbors who came to help with big jobs, but she was really on her own and did very well.

In 1957, Ione married Roy Turnbull. She and Roy ran cattle and raised, trained, rode and made pets of several horses. They sold Roy's ranch northeast of Lusk and lived at Ione's to be near Bunt and Anna. They enjoyed their hobbies, raised a beautiful big garden, made many improvements to the house and ranch buildings and generally enjoyed life and each other.

Ione cared for Anna and Bunt until they died in 1981. When Roy's health failed she cared for him until his death in 1984.

After Roy's death, Ione leased her ranch pastures and stayed on the place until 1997 when she moved to Lusk. There she was active in the community. She was a member of Fancy Farmers Garden club, involved in projects to help beautify her beloved Lusk. She enjoyed frequent get-togethers with relatives and large numbers of friends. Her warm personality attracted people to her. Jane Tyrrel said, "Just talking to Ione makes you feel better", and many others expressed the same sentiment.

Ione lived at and managed the Turnbull Apartments in Lusk while also managing the ranch until November 2005, when she moved to Cozy Corner after a bout of illness. There her health improved again, and she contentedly lived there, giving support through her special knack for friendship to her housemates and to Cozy Corner owner Kathy Keenan and her sister Diane Whitt. Ione remained in good health, with a sharp and active mind, until days before her death.

Ione was an accomplished horsewoman, marksman, gardener, cook and rancher. She knew the prairie and its grasses and how to raise and manage livestock. She continued to help with decisions about the ranch until the end of her life. She maintained lifelong correspondence with her relatives in Norway, from which her mother had emigrated, and was proud of her heritage. She was known for her wit, storytelling and skill at pinochle.

Ione is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Jo Ann and Tom Downing, of Lafayette, Calif.; a grandson and granddaughter-in-law, Jim Downing and Seema Bhangar, of Oakland, Calif.; and a great-grandson, Rohan Downing, also of Oakland. She was preceded in death in 2011 by grandson John Downing. She is survived as well by sister-in-law Phyllis Hoy and her descendents, and other Hoy cousins; by the families of her beloved Alter cousins; and by her cousins and their families in Norway.

She is also survived by stepson Perry Turnbull, daughter-in-law Vanitta Turnbull, step-grandchildren Rickie Higgins (Dale), Perry Roy Turnbull (Melinda), Sherrie Torgerson (Dave), Curtis Turnbull (Jerryne), Jennifer Russell (Chad), 23 step-great-grandchildren and 17 step-great-great-grandchildren. Preceding her in death was step-great-grandson Eric Torgerson.

Also among her survivors are those who were like family to her, including all the descendents of the Gene and Mildred Tyrrel family and Izetta Barr and her family.

Services for Ione will be held at the Congregational Church in Lusk on April 25 at 2:00 P.M.

Donations may be made in her name to Cozy Corner, Niobrara Senior Center or to a charity of the giver's choice.

The Lusk Herald
April 22, 2015

Memorial services for Ione Turnbull, 97, will be held at 2:00 P.M. Sat., Apr. 25, 2015, at the Congregational Church in Lusk. She died Tue., Mar. 17, 2015, at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper.

Memorials in her name may be made to Cozy Corner, Lusk, WY, the Niobrara Senior Center, PO Box 928, Lusk, WY 82225-0928, or to a charity of choice.

Pier funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

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