Obit: Lynn Thomas

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 | midnight

Obituaries

Lynn Marie Pfeiffer Thomas passed away on Aug. 25 in Pinedale, Wyo.

Born Nov. 20, 1939, in Los Angeles, she moved to the Las Vegas Valley when she was in grade school.

Lynn graduated from Basic High School in Henderson in 1957 and married Mike Hahn. They had three daughters, one of whom passed away as an infant. After a divorce, Lynn worked at Sears in window displays and as a secretary at Titanium Metals.

In 1962, Lynn met Joe Thomas, a technical engineer at the Nevada Test Site. They married in 1969 and ran the Big Sandy Lodge in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming.

An artist all her life, Thomas called running the wilderness outfitting company the best years of her life and called them the inspiration for her painting.

She worked in oils, watercolor, pencil and pastels, portraying the cowboy at work, horses, the majesty of the mountains, the wildlife, the shepherd, a rancher's wife feeding the chickens from a coffee can, a pioneer woman hanging out the wash.

Lynn and Joe sold the Lodge in 1983 and moved to Joe's family ranch at the base of Muddy Canyon in Boulder, Wyo., where she continued her art career. She also had a passion for photography, and her collections were donated to the Museum of the Mountain Man. She also was a published author and wrote a daily blog with many followers. She was working on her memoirs when she passed away from pancreatic cancer that had been diagnosed in 2007.

She was a member of Women Artists of the American West, Wyoming Artists Association, Sublette County Artists Guild, Mixed Media (a Pinedale Art Group) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She was named Grand Wyoming Artist in 2000 and consistently won top honors for her paintings.

Survivors include her husband, Joe Thomas of Boulder, Wyo., daughter Beverly Roberts and her husband Brent, daughter Debbie Cummings and her husband Curtis; grandchildren Justin, Shane, Tayler and Clayton; great-grandchildren Samuel and Colton, all of Las Vegas; sisters Diana Pfeiffer of Henderson, and Gloria Stevens of Green Valley, Ariz.; nieces and nephews Susan, Michael, Scott, Glory, Donna, Larry, Lenny, Marley, Joslyn, Kevin, Brett, Lisa, Jeffrey and Melanie.

Preceding her in death were her sister Barbara and her infant daughter, Michelle.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sublette County Artist's Guild, c/o Gina Felter, PO Box 2151, Pinedale, WY or Museum of the Mountain Man, PO Box 909, Pinedale, WY 82941.

Covill Funeral Home of Pinedale, Wyo., handled the arrangements.