TORRINGTON – Funeral services for Melvin Robert Eaton, 89, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, April 8 at the Colyer Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Bill Eaton officiating. Burial will follow in the Hillcrest Cemetery in Lingle. Melvin said his final goodbye to the world on March 31, 2022 in his home as the sun rose on a beautiful spring day. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Diversified Services Inc. of Torrington. Visitation will be Thursday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the casket will be open briefly following the service. Arrangements are by the Colyer Funeral Home and condolences may be sent to www.colyerfuneralhome.com.
Melvin was the youngest of three children born to Tom and Florence Eaton of Veteran, growing up on a homestead still owned by the family west of Yoder. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother John Eaton of Butler, Pa. and sister Margaret Johnson of Laramie; and his wife Rosalie Rock of Torrington. A 1950 graduate of the Veteran High School Eagles, he was involved in both high school activities, became an Eagle Scout with the BSA and engaged in FFA activities for modernized farming. He served active duty during the Korean conflict for two years and four years in Reserves with the Corps of Engineers before coming home to marry Marita Clare Brill who gave him four daughters and a son. In his youth Melvin’s father, Tom Eaton, moved his family closer to Veteran following doctor’s orders to get out of the dustbowl homestead to an irrigated property near the town site of Veteran, where Melvin farmed and raised his children who attended Goshen Hole High School and Southeast High School. An avid farmer and rancher with an interest in contour farming that earned for him an award from state FFA, he spent his early career developing the family property and raising his children, before—in his later years—taking on the position of Goshen County Planner and Emergency Manager within Torrington. Within that time, he pursued and completed his Associates Degree from Eastern Wyoming College in 1984. Following the dissolution of his first marriage, he later married Rosalie Rock of Torrington in 1977 and moved from Veteran to Torrington in 1988. He kept his administrative position with Goshen County, fulfilling various roles and managing the family ranch until 2013 before retiring at 80 years old.
Within the combined family, Melvin is survived by six daughters and three sons and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, with two children Thomas Eaton of Veteran and Cindy (Rock) Breedlove of Torrington residing in Goshen County.
