Casper Star Tribune; Casper WY; 2003-4-13

Belmonte Ellsworth Leek
GILLETTE - At his request, no services are planned for Belmonte Ellsworth
Leek, 86, who died April 12, 2003, at Pioneer Manor Nursing Home in
Gillette, of natural causes.  Cremation has taken place and private family
graveside services will be held at a later date.  Born July 30, 1916,
in Guthrie Center, Iowa, he was the son of William and Delphine (Reed)
Leek; and, as a child, moved with his family to Huron, S.D., where he was
raised and educated.  In 1935, he married Dorothy Johnston.  During World
War II, the family moved to Wyoming.  He was a mechanic in Gillette from
1959 until his retirement in 1981.  For 21 of those years, he also drove
the high-school bus route from Recluse to Gillette.  An avid hunter and
outdoorsman, he could fix anything, from a tractor to a can-opener.
Survivors include his wife of 68 years of Recluse; two daughters,
Barbara Poppenga of Sunsites, Ariz., and Anne Oedekoven of Recluse; 10
grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; a
sister; a half-brother; and a half-sister.  He was preceded in death by
his parents and a sister.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to
pioneer Manor or New Hospice, in care of Stevenson-Wilson Funeral Home,
210 W. Fifth St., Gillette 82716