Custer County Chronicle

Alan Lowell Contryman was born in Ogallala, Neb., in 1943 to Dale Morell Contryman and Maurine Skinner.
Lowell went to Custer (S.D.) High School, then went to work for Burlington Northern and became a locomotive engineer. He started his career in 1971 and retired from BNSF in 2003
Lowell, of Buffalo Gap, S.D., died Jan. 13, 2024, in Brighton, Colo. He was 80.

Lewis Junior Compton was born Sept. 25, 1930, to Lewis and Eva Compton on the head of Spring Creek on a ranch, now known as the Medicine Mountain Boy Scout Camp.
Lewis grew up on his father’s ranch near Moon, S.D. He served in the U.S. Army until his honorable discharge in 1955, receiving the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and a Bronze Star. He married Charlotte Sutton of Albion, Neb., June 16, 1957.

On Nov. 2, 1957, Rickie Bonnette was born in Pipestone, Minn., to Violet (Waddington) Holmes and Richard Waddington. She was raised by and very close to her stepfather Herbert Holmes. The family resided in Custer, S,D.
After her 18th birthday Rickie moved to Rawlins, Wyo., where she lived with her dear friends, Clifford and Thelma Davis. While there, she worked at a roller-skating rink where she met her first husband, Randy Bonnett. They were married in March 1977 and in 1978, their daughter, Tina, was born. Three and a half years later their son, Martin, was born.

Gary William Parsons was born June 18, 1957 in Hot Springs, S.D., to Greer and Marcella Parsons.
Gary grew up in Custer, S.D., and graduated from Custer High School in 1975.
After graduating High school he worked at Red Owl and Piggly Wiggly stores in Custer, Safeway in Sheridan, Wyo.,  and again at Piggly Wiggly in Belle Fourche and Spearfish, S.D., as the manager.
The opportunity to strike out on his own in the grocery business presented itself in 1981 in Bowman, N.D. He owned and operated Gary’s Jack & Jill for 35 years.