Dawn Parkins-Green, 67, of Lander, Wyoming passed away at Westward Heights Care Center on Tuesday, January 16, 2024. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, June 1, 2024 at Mount Hope Cemetery.
In 1956 on a cold Valentine’s Day, Dawn was born to William Lee and Sally Lee Parkins. Although the arrival of their baby girl was a joyful time, they were uncertain about what to name her. Bill’s friend in the Military was named Bartrum after his friend. All of their attempts to make a girl’s name out of Bartrum fell short, so they agreed to name her Dawn.
The little family moved from Billings, Montana to Lander, Wyoming in April. The little baby could roll from back to front, and was immensely entertaining to her grandparents. The family had moved to Lander to be close to the grandparents and work for Ricky Scott Gravel Company. Like most babies, she walked by the time she was one and talked around two.
Dawn looked forward to the arrival of her baby sister. She saved all of her black jelly beans for her because they were always left in the bottom of the jar.
School was a lot of fun because of all the other children. Lander was a very small town of about 3,000 people. As a result, we had warm friendly relationships that lasted into adulthood.
Dawn loved her rocking horse and rode it with wild abandon until she was seven years old. One night, Aunt Adele was baby-sitting when Uncle Dallas accidentally set fire to the garage while washing car parts in gasoline. The fire blazed out of control and Dallas had to dive out through the window. Dawn lost her beloved rocking horse, which was stored in the garage along with two nineteenth century statues of the seasons. The statues bronze plates were burnt away leaving them a deep amber color. These lonely young maidens have graced Dawn and Dan’s home since college. The fire also destroyed Bill’s saddles and left the piano and Sally’s cedar hope chest stained.
The Parkins spent most of their leisure time in the woods and mountains. Bill taught them to fish, build a fire, and other outdoor skills. The children were unhappy when in the summer, locusts would call out their song, and they would have to stay home for that season. Bill taught them about the stars and the woods, how to get clean water from a spring, edible plants, and all kinds of nests built by certain birds. With time, the woods became so exciting, that the locusts lost their aversion for them. When Billie was seven and Dawn was ten, Bill was killed in an accident at the block plant. Bill’s death left a gaping hole in the family. As a result, the family wanted to be elsewhere for Christmas. Sally bought them matching outfits to travel to Hawaii, where Sally’s sister Karen lived. Hawaii was great fun and an amazing change from Wyoming in winter. It had rolling, green waves and a wide variety of fish. Dawn enjoyed everything about Hawaii because it was nature oriented. It was like having her Dad there again.
In 1966, Sally met Ted Baldwin and they married in 1968. Ted was a great stepfather to Dawn and Billie. Pop took them on many memorable trips, like the Grand Canyon, where Dawn and Ted had iced tea on the canyon rim, while Sally and Billie shopped. There were trips to California to visit Ted’s sister, many fishing trips that taught Dawn how to plan and appreciate nature. They went to Royal Gorge, rode to the top and hiked the area.
With time the girls grew up and started their own lives. Dawn met Dan Green in the summer of 74’ and they started living together. Beginning their life together was very exciting, although not always easy for the family to accept. On June 1, 1978 they married. In 1983 just before Christmas their first child was born and their second, seven years later on November 1, 1990. Raising children and following their career paths kept them very occupied. Their jobs tended to be at the same institution throughout those years.
In 2003 Dawn was diagnosed with MS which really changed the course of their lives.
On-line condolence may be made at TheDavisFuneralHome.com
Services under the direction of Davis Funeral Home, Crematory, and Monuments.