Hermina ‘Minnie’ Miller Gams

(Feb. 11, 1922 - July 22, 2020)

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Hermina “Minnie” Miller Gams died July 22, 2020, at the New Horizons Care Center in Lovell.

Minnie was born to Gottfried and Sophie Miller on the family farm in the Sunlight community east of Lovell, on Feb. 11, 1922, one of 10 children. She was baptized on March 12, 1922, and confirmed on May 10, 1936, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lovell.

Minnie attended grade school in Cowley and Parochial School in Lovell.

Minnie married John Gams on March 31, 1940. To that union six children were born: Judy, John, Jane, Joyce, Ginger and Jerri. Minnie and John farmed in Kane, Wyoming, until 1966, when the Yellowtail Dam and Bighorn Lake displaced all the farmers in Kane. They then moved to Deaver, Wyoming, where Minnie obtained her GED in 1976 and worked at the Deaver High School as librarian for 15 years.

Minnie taught Sunday school at St. John’s Lutheran Church for 25 years, was a 4-H leader for 24 years and a member of the Kane Homemaker’s Club for 40 years. Minnie also worked as a cook at the Trailways Café in Deaver, drove truck for area farmers, raised bum lambs, milked cows, and irrigated. She participated in many cattle drives, brandings and attended endless ballgames, county fairs and concerts. She was known for her large bountiful gardens, colorful flowers and hospitality. After John’s death, Minnie moved to Lovell in 1995.

Minnie and John were also parents to three foreign exchange students: Paula Marie Meier from Luxembourg; Leon Gasatoya from the Philippines and Azad Sarhadian from Iran. They were also foster parents to Ron Bell, Ronnie Maul, Tuffy Crichton and Jack Wachob.

Minnie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a brother and sister who died in Russia, Johannes and Elizabeth Miller; sisters, Dorothea Fink and Rose Harrison of Lovell, Katherine Spomer of Powell, and Emilie Schierkolk of Riverton, Wyoming; brothers John Miller and Fred Miller of Cowley; daughters, Judy Workman of Lovell, Jane Franks of Manderson, Wyoming, and Joyce Lohrenz of Fishtail, Montana; sons-in-law Don C. Kelley, Bill Workman, and David Wilson; granddaughter Katherine Kim Kelley; great-granddaughters Kozanne Cavanaugh and Donna Kelley Brown; and one great-great-grandson Tony Andre Brown.

She is survived by her sister Sophie Panasuk of Bainville, Montana; son, John (Sylvia) Gams of Cowley; and daughters, Ginger (Denis) Cooper of California City, California, and Jerri (Leonard) Torczon of Powell; and sons-in-law Lloyd Franks of Manderson, Wyoming, and Terry Lohrenz of Absarokee, Montana. She is also survived by 31 grandchildren, 69 great-grandchildren and 44 great-great-grandchildren, and countless nieces and nephews and many others who called her “Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Minnie.”

Viewing will be held Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. at the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lovell. Funeral services will follow at 10:30 am. Burial will be at the Lovell Cemetery following funeral services. Lunch provided at St. John’s Lutheran Church after the burial.

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