Sally Rouse Vanderpoel

January 9, 1921 - February 1, 2010



Memorial services for Sally Rouse Vanderpoel, 89, will be held Friday, Feb. 5, at 1:30 p.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church in Torrington with the Rev. Mary Jellison officiating. Private family burial will be held at a later date. Sally died Feb. 1 at the Davis Hospice Center in Cheyenne and cremation has taken place. In lieu of flowers, the family would request that donations be directed in Sally’s memory to the Torrington Learning Center c/o All Saints Altar Guild, 2625 Main Street, Torrington, WY 82240. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Colyer Funeral Home and friends are invited to send condolences to the family at www.colyerfuneralhome.com. The family would also enjoy any anecdotes and/or stories about Sally and how she touched people’s lives to be sent to mawolfe@netcommander.com.

Sally was born in Omaha, Neb., Jan. 9, 1921, the only child of Philip Lambert and Helen (Houston) Rouse. Her parents homesteaded near Huntley in March 1922. She attended school in Huntley and then graduated from Torrington High School in 1938. She went on to graduate from the University of Wyoming in 1942 with a degree in home economics-nutrition. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma social fraternity, Theta Alpha Phi, drama honorary, Phi Upsilon Omicron, Home Economics honorary, which she served as president. She was a SPUR as a sophomore. She was honorary Cadet Colonel for the University ROTC. In her sophomore year she was chosen as the University’s “most beautiful” by Earl Carroll, a Hollywood personality.

She married Joe J. Keeline, Jr., in 1942 and was later divorced. She married Wayne G. Vanderpoel in June 1949 at Torrington. She taught home economics in Wheatland from 1946 to 1948, Torrington High School from 1948 to 1950 and at Huntley High School from 1967-69. She also taught a nutrition class at Eastern Wyoming College several semesters.

Sally was a volunteer in many activities. Serving on the founding boards of Diversified Services, the Senior Friendship Center and the Platte Valley Association for Retarded Citizens were among her major accomplishments. She was named chairman of Goshen County’s Bicentennial celebration by the county commissioners in 1973 and part of that committee’s accomplishment was the creation of the Homesteaders Museum, the preservation of the Midway One Room School and a number of separate celebrations throughout three years. She was a member of Chapter M and Chapter AK P.E.O. Sisterhood, serving in all offices of each chapter and as Wyoming state president of the P.E.O. Sisterhood in 1964. She was the president of the Wyoming Federation of Republican Women and the Wyoming State Historical Society. She was a former chairman of the Goshen County Republican Central Committee, a precinct committee woman, county secretary and state committee woman. She served as one of three 1994 electors for the state of Wyoming, voting for Ronald Reagan’s second term as President. She was an original member of the Governor’s Council for Developmental Disabilities, she served nine years on the board of Protection and Advocacy for Developmentally Disabled, including chairman of that board. She served 12 years on the board of Goshen County Public Assistance. She was a member of All Saints’ church, active in Episcopal Church women and the altar guild and a member of the vestry, including the office of senior warden and as a lector. She was editor of the church newsletter for many years.

She was a “stringer” for the Casper Star Tribune for three years. She was the author of “The care and feeding of your diabetic child,” published by Frederick Fell, N.Y., in 1968 with a second expanded edition in 1973. She was the author of “Wrinklebelly,” a memoir about her parents’ homesteading of the family farm near Huntley in 1999, “Stan Hathaway,” a biography in 2003, “S’more of it,” a collection of short personal memoirs in 2006 and in 2009 a cookbook called, “Sally’s Cookbook.”

She is survived by daughter Gay Vanderpoel Woodhouse of Cheyenne; five grandchildren: Melanie Wolfe, Elizabeth Yaden, Sarah Vanderpoel, Dustin Woodhouse and Houston Woodhouse; and four great-grandchildren: Kieser Corbin Wolfe, Griffin Teague Wolfe, Briella Renee Wolfe and Makenzie Elizabeth Woodhouse. Her husband, Wayne Vanderpoel preceded her in death in December 2008 as did her daughter, Sally Jo Keeline Cashner, in January 2000 and son, Philip Rouse Vanderpoel, in November 2002.

Share on Facebook