DUANE DAVID KAPER

A graveside service for Duane David Kaper, 67, will be held at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, September 7, 2021 at the Horseshoe Cemetery near Glendo, Wyoming with Pastor Casey Schroeder of the First Christian Church in Wheatland, Wyoming officiating.  Please bring your own lawn chair to sit in for the service at the cemetery.  A reception will follow at the Glendo Community Church Fellowship Hall.

Duane was born on Saturday, September 5, 1953, to Bernard Leo and V. Lorraine (Henry) Kaper in Lusk Wyoming.  He grew up and attended school in Lusk until 1967, when the family moved to Douglas where he finished his public education.  During his high school years, he met Maxine Rodriguez, and they were married in June 1973 after Maxine’s graduation. 

Duane had started working construction after leaving high school and it was during that time we went to work for LOBO, Inc.  They moved first to Rock River, Wyoming, then to Reno Junction and finally, in 1976, to Gillette.  In 1978, Duane went to work for Exxon’s Carter Mining Company at Caballo Mine where he stayed until his health forced an early retirement in 1998.  After that the family moved home, to Douglas.

Duane and Maxine became parents, first to Casey in 1984, and then Kevin in 1986, through Catholic Social Services adoption program.  The boys completed Duane’s lifelong dream of a family of his own. 

Besides being among Gillette’s best soccer dads, Duane enjoyed hunting and fishing.  Weekends in the Bighorns or at Keyhole were common.  So were camping trips with friends and family at Glendo Lake and Esterbrook and LaBonte Canyon. One of the highlights of Duane’s life was taking Casey and going with a group of outdoorsmen on a charter bus trip for a weeklong fishing trip to some lake in Saskatchewan.  Another dream was visiting Alaska, and in 1993 he and a friend went there on a fishing/ hunting trip.  That trip didn’t turn out the way he’d dreamed it would, but it was an adventure he never forgot. 

Duane passed away on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, at his home in Douglas, Wyoming with his loving family at his side, after a 28-year battle with Multiple Sclerosis and a 2-year battle with Colon Cancer. 

He was preceded in death by his father, Bernard, on March 6, 1989 and his mother, Lorraine, on July 22, 2020. 

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Maxine Kaper; his sons, Casey (Kim) Kaper and Kevin (Sarah Newman) Kaper; his sister and hero, Donna (Larry) Heimsoth; two grandsons, David Kaper and Ronan Kaper; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Jerry Lenzen, Larry Heimsoth, Eldon Peyrot, Leroy Dike, Tim Monahan, and Justin Dike.

In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate a donation in his name to the Stella Strong Foundation in care of Converse County Bank, P.O. Box 689, Douglas, Wyoming 82633. 

Duane would also be honored if you spend time enjoying the beautiful outdoors he loved.

The Gorman Funeral Homes – Converse Chapel of Douglas, Wyoming is in charge of the arrangements.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.gormanfh.com

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