LANDER—William Irvin “Bill” Crump passed away at the age of 95 on September 29, 2020 at the Wind River Rehab in Riverton, Wyoming. He was born January 3, 1925 to Joseph Crump and Elizabeth Swan in El Paso, Texas. Bill attended high school in El Paso where he played football.
He proudly enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 17 and served on the submarine USS Pompon as a Communications Specialist. He and his Sub Crew conducted nine successful attack missions during his service in the South Pacific. He was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, American and Asiatic-Pacific area ribbons, and the Good Conduct Medal.
Following an honorable discharge from the Navy on January 2, 1946, Bill briefly attended the College of Mines and Metallurgy in El Paso, then on to Colorado A&M College in Ft. Collins, where he graduated Valedictorian of a class of 900 with a BS degree in Wildlife and Range Management on June 10, 1949.
Upon graduation from A&M, Bill was hired by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as a Big Game Biologist. He had a very successful career with the WG&F and was promoted to the position of District Supervisor, a position he held until his retirement in 1980. After retiring, he remained very active, irrigating and running the family ranch, and owning and operating a very successful rangeland reclamation and seeding business.
Bill married his high school sweetheart, Dolores Jean Ohswaldt in El Paso on May 27, 1946. They moved to Pinedale, Wyoming in a Model A Ford sedan, and then on to Lander in 1954. They made their home on the old Laird Ranch on Squaw Creek west of Lander.
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