Ella Marie Kilmer Henthorn

Ella Marie Kilmer Henthorn, known as Marie to most, was born on October 5, 1927, at home in Kilmer Valley, Custer County, Nebraska, to parents Clarence Everett Kilmer and Ella Sedonia (Long) Kilmer. Marie passed on December 23, 2021, with her daughter by her side at Wyoming Medical Center. She lived to be 94 years old.

When she was 5, her family moved to Lusk, Wyoming, where the family farm is still being run to this day. Her father drove the school bus and her mother managed the Northside Cafe. She grew up alongside 3 brothers, Everett (Fredda Lou), Robert (Evelyn), and Alvin (Mattie Jean).  Marie graduated from Lusk high school in 1945.  She attended a business college in Rapid City, South Dakota.

 In addition to her farm chores, she worked as a waitress at the Northside Cafe which is where she met her husband. Marie met Eldon Ray Henthorn, known as Bud, on June 21, 1947. Bud was working as a seismographer for a local oil company. Bud and his fellow workers had a charge account at the Northside Cafe and often had their meals there. Bud would often stay till close and help Marie wash the dishes so she could get off a little earlier to spend time with him and get to know him. Four months later they were married on October 12, 1947.

Marie followed Bud almost everywhere the oil business took him. Together they had 6 children, Cathy (Rusty Conley), Dennis (Chris), Arlene, Sharlene, Kenny, and Cherrie (Paul Cayton). The last word she spoke was “love” and that's how she lived. She loved her husband and every one of her brothers, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with a love that cannot be measured. Family meant everything to her.

 Marie is preceded in death by her parents Clarence and Ella, her brothers Everett and Alvin, her husband Bud, her daughters Cathy and Sharlene, and 2 grandsons Dusty and Shane.

She leaves behind her brother Robert of Valentine, Nebraska, her sons Dennis of Arizona and Kenneth of Idaho, her daughters Arlene of Casper, WY, and Cherrie of Cameron, MO, and 17 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. 

Memorials instead of flowers can be sent to:  Mimi’s House (PO Box 1501, Casper, WY 82602) or Jason’s Friends (340 W B St, Casper, WY 82601).

A Memorial Service will be held Friday, January 7, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. at First Christian Church, 520 CY Ave, Casper.  Funeral service will be Saturday, January 8, 2022, in Lusk, WY, at Pier Funeral Home, 101 W 4th, at 11:00 a.m. Interment at the Lusk Cemetery will follow.

Pier Funeral Home would like to advise you that the memorial tree program does not plant a tree locally, and does not advise the family of your donation.