E. William Rideout Jr.

Elmer William “Bill” Rideout, Jr., M.D., 97, passed away peacefully at Pointe Frontier Retirement Community, Cheyenne, Wyoming, on August 28, 2018. Bill was born April 21, 1921 in Bucksport, Maine. He was the oldest child of Nancy Partridge Gross and Elmer William Rideout, Sr. He married his first love, Dr. Theresa “Tess” Maloney Rideout, on June 25, 1945 in Elmira, NY. After completing his Internship at Arnot Ogden Hospital in Elmira, NY, in 1947, he moved his family to Batavia, NY, to begin his residency in General Medicine. He lived in Western New York for the next 23 years, where his family to grew to seven children. In 1970, the family moved to Cheyenne, where he worked at the Veterans Hospital. He and Tess resided happily in Cheyenne for the next 47 years. Tess predeceased Bill in June, 2017.

Bill was a 1939 graduate of LaSalle High School, Niagara Falls, NY. He attended the University of Maine from 1939 until 1942. Because of the shortage of doctors during WW II and his commitment to the U.S. Navy, he was directed by the Navy to enroll in medical school as soon as he had the prerequisite courses. He enrolled at the University of Buffalo Medical School in the fall of 1942 and, again because of the war, attended class six days a week, year round, for three years, completing the four year program in three years. He received his M.D. from the University of Buffalo in May, 1945. During and after his residency, Bill practiced on the staff at the Veterans Hospital in Batavia, NY, and later went into private practice. Although his medical practice remained in Batavia until 1970, the family moved to Alexander, NY, in 1955. Bill was a true country doctor. He worked seven days a week. He delivered babies, made house calls and hospital rounds every day, and held office hours nine or ten hours a day, five days a week. He started off taking care of individual patients. By the time his private practice years ended he was taking care of entire families. Over time, those families of patients blended into families of neighbors and true friends. He was loved and respected in our small community and surrounding communities as only a true country doctor could be in that era.

The move to Cheyenne was a major leap of faith for Bill and Tess. They left the security of a very small town (200 people) for the big city of Cheyenne, which actually had traffic lights and a “rush hour.” Any doubts that New Yorkers might not fit into the Wyoming lifestyle evaporated almost overnight. There were nearly as many cows in Wyoming as there were in New York, just beef cows instead of dairy cows. And there were just as many pick-up trucks in Wyoming as there were in New York. But more importantly, the spirit of the people was the same. As in New York, the people in Wyoming care about their neighbors and will do anything for them. Over the 48 years that Bill lived in Wyoming he commented on that similarity time and again. The tornado that devastated the north side of Cheyenne and the 100 year flooding that occurred over the entire City a few years later were just a few instances of neighbors helping neighbors during very difficult times. Big Wyoming turned out to be the perfect place for both Tess and Bill.

Bill was very active throughout his life in amateur radio (K7YM), skiing, golf, fishing and most things outdoors. He started a car touring club in Western New York that flourished for many years. He was active in the Kiwanis Club and was on the Board of Magic City Enterprises. He was particularly interested in preserving Wyoming history, and participated in the restoration of the Union Pacific Depot.

In recent years he undertook writing a history of the original Cheyenne Carnegie Library, and completed that book in 2017. At the time of his death he was working on a history of the second Cheyenne library. The one constant with all of his activities and interests was that, as much as he enjoyed the activity, he enjoyed the people more.

In addition to his wife Tess, Bill was preceded in death by his daughter Mary, his parents, his brother Earl, his sister Eleanor, and his sisters-in-law Betty, Mary and Jane.

He is survived by six children: Elmer William Rideout, III, (Anne) of Salt Lake City; Nancy R. Bloeser (John) of Syracuse, NY; Barbara R. Sullivan (Donald) of Cheyenne; Richard S. Rideout (Kathleen) of Cheyenne; Dr. Martha J. Rideout of Corvalis, OR; and Jeanne M. Wozny (Patrick) of Cheyenne and Antananarivo, Madagascar.

He is also survived by his brother: Kenneth Rideout of North Tonawanda, NY and his grandchildren: Elmer William Rideout, IV, Salt Lake City; Michael Rideout (Michele) Federal Way, WA; Amy Fix (Tim Dubnau), Brooklyn; Sarah Sullivan, Takoma Park, MD; Richard Sullivan (Amanda), Buffalo, NY; Elizabeth Rideout, San Francisco; Erin Rideout, Pittsburg; Jacob Wozny, Laramie; Theresa and Claire Wozny, Cheyenne and Antananarivo; John Brooks (Colleen), Montclair, NJ; and Katherine Bloeser (Tyrone Millard), Peekskill, NY.

Bill and Tess also had great grandchildren: Alexa and Parker Rideout and Caitlynn Pope (Jacob), Salt Lake City; Patrick Rideout, Federal Way, WA; Roxanna and Zachary Dubnau, Brooklyn; Aisling, Arabella and Celeste Sullivan, Buffalo, NY; Saoirse and Graham Brooks, Montclair; and Sebastian Millard, Peekskill, NY.

The entire family extends special thanks to the staff and residents at Pointe Frontier, who made his last days so happy.

A Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 11 AM at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 1808 Hot Springs Ave, Cheyenne. A luncheon will follow. Burial will be at a later date.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be sent to Magic City Enterprises.

The Wiederspahn-Radomsky Chapel of Cheyenne is in charge of arrangements.