Henry Baldwin

Osage, WY:
Memorial services for Henry Lester "Les" Baldwin, 96, will be held at 11:00 am Monday, March 23rd at Upton United Methodist Church with Rev. Joseph Spencer officiating. Burial at a later date will be at Greenwood Cemetery, Upton, Wyoming. The family asks that memorial contributions be given to the Osage Volunteer Ambulance Service.
Mr. Baldwin died March 17, 2009 at his home in Osage.
Les was born September 15, 1912 the son of George Clyde and Ida Rose Hendrickson Baldwin. In a log house on his parent's homestead near Inyan Kara Mountain south of Sundance, Wyoming.
Lester married Eloise Piersall in Pierre, South Dakota in 1936. To his union were born Clyde, Joyce and Velma. Lester's main occupation was building construction. He worked mainly in northeast Wyoming for many years, moving the family to Gillette, Upton, and Osage and to Newcastle in 1950 where they lived through 1970. During harsh winters in Wyoming, Lester moved the family to California, Arizona and New Mexico but Wyoming always beckoned them back. Around 1951 Lester went to work in building construction for Harold Julian Julian Construction. The first job he worked on was building the Catholic Church. One of the jobs was building the Osage school. When Julien Construction moved to Cody, Lester worked a lot in the Big Horn Basin. He had divorced, and remarried in 1971 to Leola Rosetti. They moved to Cody for a few years, then to Gillette. Lester retired in 1978 and moved to Osage.
One of Lester's loves was his ranch that sits at the foot of Inyan Kara Mountain to the southwest. He bought the "O'Haver" place early in the 1940's and purchased his Dad's ranch from him in 1945 when his parents moved to Upton. He leased the land to a rancher for the last several years. It was a beautiful geta�"away and hunting place. His children love the memories of living there and going to country school during the 1949/50 school year, as well as all the times spent there after that. Most of his friends also know of his love for his cats. They were his good friends and company for the last years of his life. They didn't talk back and taking care of them kept him active.
Spending time with family and friends was important to Lester. He took his responsibilities of providing for his family seriously and tried to impart the ideals of work as well as pleasure to them. He loved to read and had stacks of books and magazines around his house. Going to dances was almost a weekly event, and what fun they were in the old days when whole families, including young children went. When he recorded his oral history, his years were marked by the vehicles that he owned, from the most rickety and unreliable to the very best. He tells that he left home during his teen years to make his own way during those hard years of the Great Depression. In 1932 or 1933 he headed for Seattle in a used 1928 Chevy. It would only go 35 miles an hour, so it took three long days. He accidentally met the gangster Buggsy Moran in Cour D' Alene, Idaho while eating in a café. Buggsy invited Lester to help him rob the bank in Lead, but he wisely declined the invitation.
He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Hazel Messesmith and Ledel Baker, and brother Dick Baldwin.
Lester's survivors include; Children Clyde of Juneau, Alaska, Joyce Slider of Newcastle and Velma Jerry Maddox of Powell, Wyoming. Also special nephews and their wives Ray and Gloria Riehemann, Bill and Barb Riehemann, Bob and Glenna Riehemann, all of Upton. There is no way to express the gratitude felt by Lester's children for the care and love they showed to him in the last several years of his life.. Nephews Carl and Larry Riehemann and Paul Baker. Grandchildren; Shawna O'Hara, Gary Maddox, Sonja Baldwin, Frank Slider, Mary Slider, and Susan Slider Asbeth. There are seven great grandchildren.