HAWK SPRINGS – Wilma Schlager was born January 4, 1927, in Mitchell, Nebraska, as lucky number 13 out of 17. Her parents were sharecropper immigrants from German colonies in Russia. She grew up near Hawk Springs, where she excelled at school and graduated as HS Valedictorian.
She knew Chuck Ward from LaGrange, but they didn’t become serious until winter 1946. He refused to return to college until she married him. After their wedding in March 1947 in Torrington they moved to University of Montana, where only child Chuck Ward Jr. was born in 1949.
Chuck Sr. became a Wyoming Game Warden and was posted throughout eastern Wyoming until they finally settled in Casper. There, Wilma worked for Peterson Construction as Office Manager and Chuck Sr. became the well-known G&F representative with daily radio programs, weekly TV programs, Junior High and Elementary School Conservation Science programs.
After retirement, they moved to a small farm with a huge garden outside Lingle, and then into Torrington where she loved daily walks with sister Clara. Eventually they moved to Puyallup, Washington to be near their son. Chuck Sr. died in 2014. Wilma remained at an Independent Retirement facility until 2020 when she moved to an Adult Family Home with only 4 other residents and a very loving caring staff.
Wilma died peacefully on December 19, 2023, during a post-dinner nap. She was just a few days shy of her 97th birthday, making her the longest living and last of the 17.
