Lynn Dimond
With the exception of a few years of college at the University of Wyoming, Lynn Dimond spent his entire life in the place he loved most…Cokeville, Wyoming. He was born approximately six miles south of town on what was notoriously coined the Skunk Ranch. He was primarily raised a couple of miles northeast of town in a small log home that remains today alongside Spring Creek, situated just beyond the Smith Fork River. He often recalled the extremities of seasons there: so many dusty days of branding and herding cattle even as the winters were bitterly cold; the family had no indoor plumbing until a red brick home was built adjacent to that property during his sophomore year in 1954. He traveled to the elementary in an old panel wagon school bus, driven by the Larsons, on what was a ten-mile dirt road at the time. You know those kinds of journey—the ones that go uphill, both ways.
He learned his strong work ethic and the cattle business from his father, Weldon; he came to value education and history from his mother, Mary. He learned the importance of setting and reaching goals—to truly strive—in the wood varnished hallways, the gleaming courts, and well tended fields of Cokeville High School.
Lynn was a quintessential Wyoming cowboy, one of what we lament as the last of a dying breed. To contemplate the contributions he made to his community though, and to the Cokeville Rodeo organization, is to reflect on the many facets of his personality. Along with being a rancher, he was an avid outdoorsman, a pioneer, a patriot, a good neighbor and friend, and—first, last and always—a father.
Fathering was what Lynn did best, and his influence expanded well beyond his own children. He was deeply affected by those who preceded him, which accounts for the way he emulated their examples through a certain caring and paternal instinct for young people. His contributions to subsequent generations were without theatrics. His was often a quiet influence, evidenced by actions as opposed to words, and his love for outdoor recreation often complemented the understated guidance he offered over the years. When the Clark or Harmon kids wanted to rope competitively along with Lynn’s sons, he simply began to clear hay and build, over the course of a summer, a functional roping arena in the existing stackyards. Kids instinctively knew that their hopes and dreams were safe with him, that he understood something called potential.
The ruggedness and directness that characterized him over the years—even earning him the nickname the “Marlboro Man” from a handful of his kids’ friends—belied a certain good-natured disposition. If you didn’t know he was funny, with a keen sense of irony and humor, you didn’t spend much time with him around a campfire or after a long day of moving cows or trying to build on a good stock show. He got a few of his sayings mixed up from time to time—a favorite being the assertion that “one man’s junk is another man’s castle”—but he was still spot on when it came to observing human nature. He used that wit on numerous occasions as a means to recruit others to a good cause, a charm comparable to that of Tom Sawyer, whether it was to raise money or cajole resources to help the Cokeville Rodeo or Steer-A-Year programs, or to help someone in need. “Paybacks,” as he referred to them, were arguably called upon, without reservation, because he’d banked so much service himself. “Paybacks” are how he figuratively roped volunteers into helping him build something new, or improve on something existing—within well-worn chutes at the town’s arena on the corners of Post and Fifth Streets, or at the county’s biggest seasonal event: the Lincoln County Fair and Rodeo.
Unbeknownst to many, Lynn helped break ground for many of the community organizations and establishments that Cokeville and the State of Wyoming know today. He was a charter member of the Cokeville Lions Club, which served the town for 30 years. He was a charter member of the National Cattle Association and served as a member of the Wyoming Stockgrowers’ Association, frequently chairing its subcommittees. He was elected to the Wyoming State Grazing Board and served as the chair for the Lincoln County Conservation District for 10 years. He was also once invited to accompany then Governor Ed Hirschler overseas as part of a goodwill agricultural tour. He was able to visit countries like Italy and Denmark, among other European countries, and even toured the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He returned with an even greater appreciation for his own homeland, often expressing to his family his gratitude for the freedoms our country affords and those who sacrificed to uphold them. He remained active over the years in championing liberty and individual rights for land owners as well as local agricultural interests, and he was vocal in his support of our veterans. As the appointed Lincoln County Recreation Commissioner for 30 years, he helped start and build the Pine Creek Ski Area. He served on the National Ski Patrol for many years and instructed children in the formal ski school program. His love for skiing was only matched by his passion for rodeos, a pastime taken on as a young calf roper alongside Stan Thompson, Sr.
Many of the rodeo arenas, golf courses, parks and playgrounds in the county are the result of his handiwork or leadership during his three decades of service with the commission. It’s been noted that, in all the time he held that position, Lynn never missed a regular meeting. Nor did he miss one as a Lincoln County Fair Board member for 14 years. That record reflected his commitment to fulfilling responsibilities as well as the consistency in leadership that was his hallmark. Recognizing that dependability and his tenure as a decades-long member of the Cowboy Joe Club, the University of Wyoming asked him to help spearhead the Steer-A-Year program. Essentially, it was a campaign designed to get ranchers across the state to donate a steer, feed it out, then sell it with the proceeds benefiting in-state athletes. For his efforts in the program’s debut, he was honored by the university as an Outstanding Volunteer. The community of Cokeville honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
While a certain notoriety accompanies appointments and elected positions, it was the unheralded acts of service Lynn rendered that were truly remarkable. Many probably observed his weekday visits to the Cokeville Seniors’ Center to pick up lunch. What they missed was the time he often took to play pool with an older, lonely widower. Plowing a neighbor’s driveway was typical; spontaneously pushing the accumulated snow into a sledding hill afterward for the neighbor’s children was the kind of added thoughtfulness that made him special.
For his part, Lynn always saw the holes and fixed the things that needed fixing: he tried to leave things a little better than he found them. For that, he seemed to have always left us a little better than we were when we began.
*Story contributed by Amy Dimond, Lynn’s daughter