Funeral Services for Darrell Walker December 27
by Covill Funeral Home
December 22, 2025
Funeral services for Darrell Walker will be held Saturday, December 27th at 11:00 a.m. at the Pinedale Community Church. Interment with military honors will follow in the Pinedale Cemetery.
Obituary – Darrell Walker
November 8, 1930 - December 19, 2025
Darrell Dee Walker, a beloved husband, father, and "Papa," passed from this life on December 19, 2025, at the age of 95.
Darrell was born on November 8, 1930, in Sheridan, Wyoming, to Jay Arthur and Opal Allen Walker, joining siblings Kenneth Wayne Walker and Joan Walker (Whyte). He attended Sheridan schools and graduated from Sheridan High School in December 1949. He joined the Navy in September 1950, serving four years as a dispersing clerk at the San Diego North Island Air Station and aboard the USS Baroka and Point Cruz, CVE-class aircraft carriers, traveling to Japan, Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong, Okinawa, and Guam. While stationed in Japan, Darrell flew in a helicopter over the iconic cherry trees in full bloom at Atsugi. Later in life, Darrell was the recipient of the Ambassador for Peace medal from the Republic of Korea and their people, expressing "everlasting gratitude for the service you and your countrymen have performed in restoring and preserving our freedom and democracy," an honor given to 23 servicemen in Sublette County.
Following his discharge in 1954, he attended NW Community College in Sheridan for two years, taking classes in the same hospital building where he had been born. There, he fell in love with Verna Lindsey, a Sheridan native, and they married on June 1, 1956. The couple moved to Laramie that fall, where Darrell earned a Bachelor of Science in Soils in 1958 and a Master’s in Soil Science and Agronomy in 1960. He began working for the USDA Agricultural Resource Service in mountain meadow research, traveling to ranches in Carbon, Laramie, Sweetwater, Sublette, and Teton counties, where many clients became lifelong friends.
Darrell was then given the opportunity to join the 'Wyoming Team" and establish a Soils Laboratory for the University of Wyoming in Mogadishu, Somalia. When he telephoned home to ask Verna's opinion, her only question was "Where's Somalia?" An immediate decision was made to take their three children, Jay, Kathy and Jon, and go to Somalia in early January 1968 (right after Wyoming played in the Sugar Bowl). The children attended the American School with international peers, while Verna worked as Business Manager.
The Walker family returned in May 1970 and made Sublette County their permanent home. After living in Boulder for three years, they leased the Swanda Ranch in Daniel until they built a house on the hill above the Daniel Junction in 1978. The road to that property is now known as "Walker Drive."
Not long after returning from Somalia, longtime friends Norman and Barbara Pape went on their own African adventure to hunt "big game" and asked the Walkers to stay at their ranch while they were gone. Darrell and Verna were charged with their own children, three Pape children, and two hired hands, during one of the worst winters in county history. Amid this backdrop, Darrell and Verna were blessed with their fourth child, Patrick, in February 1972.
After settling in Pinedale, Darrell established Mountain Meadow Improvement, providing livestock and veterinary supplies, irrigation systems, general ranch supplies, and liquid fertilizer sales and application, which grew to serve ranches throughout southwestern Wyoming. In 1990, his son Jon joined the business, and it was renamed Walker’s Agri-Service, Inc. Darrell spread fertilizer each spring and fall until the age of 90. He continued to lend his expertise to Jon, helping him during fertilizer season, but was not particularly happy that he wasn’t driving the spreader.
Darrell was a devoted conservationist and lifelong community leader. He was elected to the Sublette County Conservation Board of Directors in 1973 and served continuously, including as Chairman for many years. He also served eight years on the State Association of Conservation Boards, three as President, and as Vice-Chairman of the Coalition of Local Governments. He served as an Elder in the Church of the Resurrection, Chairman of the Pinedale Planning and Zoning Commission, Precinct Representative of the Sublette County Republican Party, and a member of the Green River Valley Cattlemen and Wyoming Farm Bureau. In 2021, the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts (WACD) named the Darrell Walker Outstanding Supervisor Award in his honor, recognizing his dedication as Wyoming’s longest-serving District Supervisor.
In the late 90's, Darrell discovered a huge cast iron pot at the Jack Jeffers ranch near Tensleep - just what he had been looking for! Uncle Jack had died recently, and Aunt Helen was happy that Darrell could use the pot. Then he found a second cast-iron pot at his sister-in-law's farm in Nebraska. It was the perfect time to pursue his dream of an outdoor cookout. He shared the idea for "Pitchfork Fondue" with a rancher near Jackson who said, "I have just the place for you!" Starting in the summer of 1997 at the Lucas Ranch on the Gros Ventre River, Darrell cooked steaks on pitchfork tines at either "rare," "medium," "medium well," or "ruined." In 2001, Pitchfork Fondue moved to the Pinedale rodeo grounds, where he hosted guests from all around the world for another ten years. Darrell and Verna always enjoyed having their granddaughters, Jessica and Katie, help them during the summers, and a young Taylor would join in when the Montana family visited, always questioning how much sugar Grammie used in her famous brownies and "helping" Papa make the homemade potato chips in the cast-iron pot.
In the summer months, Darrell enjoyed tending his garden (though the deer often enjoyed it too) and haying for Kim at the Wapika Ranch on the Green River. His weeks were full with Men’s Breakfast, two Bible studies, two church prayer groups, and pinochle at the Senior Center on Tuesday afternoons.
After Verna’s passing in 2019, Darrell continued to find joy in the routines he loved. He tended his garden in Pinedale and often spent a few weeks at a time in Montana with Patrick and his family at their cabin in the Crazy Mountains, where he proudly took charge of splitting firewood to keep the fire going through the cold months. He tagged along to MSU basketball games and rodeos, always quick to remind everyone that he was a WYO man. Time spent with Garrett, Keegan, and Landon brought him plenty of laughs, whether racing sticks down the small creek at Pitchfork or good-naturedly guarding the TV remote while the boys tried to change the channel from Papa’s ever-present golf and Fox News. In recent years, he especially enjoyed riding along with Keegan and Garrett once they were old enough to drive. He could always be talked into smiling for Patrick’s wife, Stephanie, knowing her photos were capturing special family memories.
Fishing and exploring in Alaska, along with visits with Kenny and Leith, were always highlights for Darrell. He and Verna cherished watching Jessica and Katie grow up and start their own families, smiling at the antics of their great-grandchildren and enjoying being part of their lives. He loved watching Grammie teach Taylor how to bake and, of course, savoring all the treats they made together. He also cherished his daughter Kathy and her husband Kim, enjoying the times they would stop by to lend a hand, and looked forward to visits from his son Jay and his wife Cherie, who would travel from Iowa to spend time with him. The yearly Jeffers family reunion in Sheridan was another favorite, where Darrell enjoyed catching up with family and playing cribbage with his nephew Wayne, whom he held dear. A diehard Cowboy fan, he cheered for the players almost as much as he corrected the officials. He loved napping in the Arizona sun, spending winters with Jon, visiting his nephew Rick, Susan, and their family in Chandler, and taking trips to Lake Henshaw with Janice, always making new friends before returning home to gather seeds and plant his garden.
No matter where he was, Darrell embraced his role as "the supervisor," keeping a watchful eye and guiding those around him with humor and quiet wisdom.
He always said, "I'm blessed. First, I was born in America; second, in Wyoming; and third, I got to live in Sublette County, Wyoming."
Darrell was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Verna May Walker. He is survived by his children, Jay Walker (Cherie), Kathy Bright (Kim), Jon Walker (Windy), and Patrick Walker (Stephanie); grandchildren, Rebecca Christy, Jessica Anderson, Katie Sherwood, Kenny Walker, Taylor Walker, Garrett Walker, Keegan Walker, and Landon Walker; and many great-grandchildren, along with countless others whose lives he touched and who loved him dearly.
Funeral services will be held Saturday December 27, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at the Pinedale Community Church. Interment with military honors will follow in the Pinedale Cemetery.
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