Fred Mueller

Fred J. (Fritz) Mueller died March 15, 2011 in Cheyenne at age 95 ½. He was born in Hamburg MN on September 15, 1915, to Fred J. Mueller and Anna Marie Harms Mueller. He moved to Wyoming in 1923 at the age of 8 with his widowed mother and brother. Growing up he worked on the ranches where his mother cooked for hay crews. He graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1935. He attended the University of Minnesota for a year before returning to Wyoming. In 1939 he met Ellen Crago at a roller skating rink west of Cheyenne. They were married six weeks later. They observed their 70th wedding anniversary in June of 2009, shortly before her death. As a child he rode in an airplane with Charles Lindberg who was "barnstorming" county fairs to earn money and gain flying experience. His father paid five dollars for his cousin and him to crowd into the single front seat to fly over the countryside. During the Blizzard of ‘49 Fred and his fellow switchmen spent long hours getting badly need coal to the steam plant in west Cheyenne. At one point a coal hopper car derailed near the plant. Somehow they were able to get the huge car back on track and delivered the coal, thus keeping buildings downtown heated. He worked for the Union Pacific for 43 yrs as a switchman and later a brakeman with runs to Laramie and Rawlins. He enjoyed fishing and hunting. He and Ellen traveled the back roads of Wyoming as they attended meetings around the state. Probably no other residents have seen as much of the out of way places and "dim trails" in Wyoming. In 1963 Fritz was chairman of the Union Pacific Old Timers committee which planned, organized and toiled to save the Big Boy steam engine now in Holliday Park. When he found that the UP was going to scrap the engine, he and others contacted the UP to arrange for it to be donated to the City of Cheyenne. Under his leadership, the committee arranged for the track to be laid into the park, the concrete pad laid, and engine moved to its permanent location. All materials and labor were donated. He is survived by son Jack Mueller of Cheyenne, daughters Betty (Jim) Fornstom of Pine Bluffs and Nancy Rutledge of Oakland CA. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Stacey (Cindy) Fornstrom, Troy (Jen) Fornstrom of Denver, Kiesa (Jeff) Geyer of Cheyenne, Mandi (Pete) Olivetti of San Francisco and Dr.Lindsey Rutledge of Baltimore, and four great grandchildren: Reganne and Reid Fornstrom of Denver and Samantha and Jake Geyer of Cheyenne. Several nieces and nephews also survive. He was preceded in death by his wife Ellen in July of 2009, his parents, 3 brothers and two sisters. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Trinity Lutheran Church in Cheyenne, Wyoming State Historical Society Foundation, Union Pacific Historical Society, or a charity of choice. Services will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1111 E 22nd St at 3:30 pm on Friday March, 18, 2011. His grandchildren and great grandchildren will serve as pallbearers.

Service

Friday, March 18, 2011 3:30pm

Trinity Lutheran Church

1111 E. 22nd St.

CHEYENNE, WY 82001