TORRINGTON – An open house will be held at the Goshen County Homesteaders Museum on September 29 from 2-6 p.m. to celebrate the history of the place that Vaughn celebrated most. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her name to the Goshen County Senior Friendship Center’s activity fund.
Vaughn was born May 5, 1942 in Wheatland. She was the daughter of Bentley and Daphne (Storm) Shields. She grew up in the Iowa Center Community outside of Chugwater and was proud to call herself a life-long resident of Goshen County. She attended school in Chugwater through her junior year and then graduated from Laramie High School in 1960 while her mother completed her college education. Vaughn received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming in 1965.
Vaughn married Jerald (Jerry) Simonsen on December 7, 1968 in Chugwater and the couple raised Angus cattle in Veteran until 1984. The Simonsen family then moved to Yoder where they resided until moving to Torrington in 2015.
Vaughn had a wonderful and varied work life. She was one of the first women to be appointed Park Ranger in the U.S., working at Fort Laramie from 1962-1968. She was a teacher at Southeast Elementary in Yoder from 1969-1995. If you had her as a teacher, she still had your school photo! But among the top qualifications that she listed on her resume: wife and mother, caretaker of parents and grandparents, gardener, artist, humor therapist, and an all-around handy woman.
Vaughn was active in the Wyoming Education Association, Goshen County Teachers Association, and Goshen County Democratic Party. She was a past member of Yoder Women’s Club and South Goshen Presbyterian Church.
Vaughn is survived by her son, Garrett, and son-in-law, Dean Gendron of Massachusetts; daughter, Vanee, and Matt Knutson of Montana; and her beloved cousins with whom she shared many adventures and laughs. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jerry; her brother, Jeff Shields; her parents; and her grandparents.
