Loyd Haden Tanner

     Loyd Haden Tanner was born June 15, 1925 in Monroe County, Missouri, the son of Paul and Myrtle Moore Tanner.  In 1930, when the Great Depression combined with a severe drought, the family moved to Lucerne, Wyoming to join family members there. 

     Loyd graduated from Hot Springs County High School in 1943 and enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Corps in August of that year.  Two weeks after enlisting, he was assigned to Buckley Field in Denver, Colorado for basic training.  After completing Gunnery School, Loyd spent two months  in Gulf Port, Mississippi, where he received Overseas Training.  Then he and his crew went to Hunterfield, Georgia, where they picked up a plane and flew themselves to Wales.  

     In Europe, Loyd was assigned to the 8th Air Force in Molesworth, England - in the 427th Squadron of the  303rd Bomb Group.   It was on VE ("Victory England") Day in May 1945 that Loyd boarded a boat bound for the United States. During the time he served in England, Loyd flew 34 missions over Germany, plus one "bail out" (total of 35). 

     He was forced to bail out on one of these missions when an engine caught on fire.  After bailing out, Loyd landed in Hulst, Holland (near the Belgium border).  Loyd sprained his ankle when he landed, and he was soon surrounded by cautious civilians.  He was relieved when one speaking English  told him there was a British camp a few miles down the road and they would contact them for him. He was then flown back back to England a day later, and he was trucked back to the base at Molesworth to be reunited with his crew.  

     When Loyd returned home, he enrolled at the University of Wyoming, where he earned a Bachelors degree in geology in 1950.  After graduation, he worked as a petroleum geologist for Stanolin (later Pan American) before becoming an independent consulting geologist (primarily in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah). After over 30 years in the "oil patch," Loyd retired -- only to start his own sewer- cleaning business, which he turned over to his son in 1995. 

     Loyd married Verdelia Lindsey in Thermopolis, Wyoming in August 1948.  Three children were born to this union before they divorced in August 1962: Marva Ann, Paula Jane and Mark Gregory Tanner.  When they were both 83, Loyd married Winona Williams Brummel, who sadly preceded him in death in 2015. 

     He is survived by daughter Marva Hoffmeyer, son Mark Tanner, and grandchildren Brandon Tanner Jackson, Sarah Annena Jackson Langton, Ryan Cameron Jackson, Jeffrey Peter Cuno, Rebecca Jane Cuno Hankey, Gregory Hayden Tanner and Lindsey Christina Tanner, as well as ten great-grandchildren.

      Love for his family and friends was Loyd’s most defining quality. This love was demonstrated when he moved in with his daughter, Marva, following her divorce, and helped raise her children as his own. When people needed his help, he offered assistance in too many ways to list.  Always he manifested absolute integrity, so those who knew him would consider it an honor to be compared to him.

A memorial service with military honors will be held on Friday, June 16, 2023 at 3:00pm at Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery.