Marian I. Wham, 93 of Logo Vista, TX and former Black Hills resident.

Marian Irene Sweet was born to Wyoming ranchers, Eugene and Amy Sweet, on August 7, 1914. She was born at the ranch with the aid of a Doctor who had to travel 30 miles on horseback to reach the ranch, Marian was the fourth of five siblings.
Marian's parents came to Wyoming by covered wagon from Iowa in 1898. They homesteaded land at the headwaters of Arch Creek in the Black Hills of northeast Wyoming.

Marian attended primary school and then high school in the town of Upton, Wyoming, located 15 miles west of the ranch. She graduated from high school in 1932 and then enrolled in Normal Training. Her first teaching job was at a rural school near her parent's ranch.

She met her future husband, Howard Arch Wham while teaching. Howard's parents owned a ranch 40 miles south of the Sweet ranch near Newcastle, Wyoming.
Marian and Howard were married on New Years Day in 1934 at Spearfish South Dakota. Two children were born to the marriage, Darel Alan on Jan. 5, 1935 and Norma Lee on Jan. 17, 1936.

Times were tough. Howard went to work for the newly formed U. S. Agriculture Department and worked there for more than twenty years. He was head of the Wyoming Agriculture Stabilization Service (ASC) when he resigned to run his own ranch in l946. The ranch was located 42 miles north of the Sweet ranch in the Black Hills.

Howard and Marian lived on their ranch until 1965 when they retired and moved to Vista, California. There they vacationed frequently and traveled to many parts of the world.

In 1974 Howard died from his third heart attack while on a fishing trip to Mexico with Marian and his son Darel. Howard was buried in Spearfish, South Dakota near where he and Marian were married.

Marian moved to the Houston, Texas area in 1974 to be near her daughter, Norma. Soon her son, Darel also moved to Houston.

Marian had a very successful and active retirement. She became president of the Clear Lake Area Sunshine Club. Later she became president of the Clear Lake chapter of AARP. She also actively helped to raise her 8 grand children and then 8 great grand children.

In 1997 Marian moved to the Terrace Retirement Community at Willowbrook to be near her son's home at Champions. At the Terrace she was active in the community store and she was Captain of her Court.

In 2005 she moved to the Hampton Assisted Living facility near Willowbrook.

In October, 2007, at the age of 93, she moved to the town of Logo Vista near Austin to live with her daughter, Norma. She passed away peacefully on January 27th 2008 at a local hospital in Austin, TX.

Funeral services will be at 2:00 P.M., Friday, February 1st 2008 at Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapels in Spearfish with Reverend Gordon Higgins officiating, burial will be next her husband at Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish. Arrangements are under the care of Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapels of Spearfish. Online condolences may be written at www.fidler-isburgfuneralchapels.com