Iola Mae Cosner

Funeral services for Iola Mae Cosner will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church with the Rev. Raymond Canete officiating.
Burial will follow in Wright Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, at Walker Funeral Home with a vigil prayer service at 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Feb. 15, 2013.
Iola Mae Cosner, 86, of Wright, Wyo., passed away on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, at Pioneer Manor Nursing Home.
Iola was born on Dec. 4, 1926, in Arcadia, Neb., to John Commodore Price and Goldie Edna Price. They lived on a farm and at 18 months of age, she contracted meningitis, which resulted in her becoming deaf. When Iola was 12 years old she was enrolled in the Nebraska School for the Deaf in Omaha, Neb., where she eventually met Dean Cosner. Upon graduation, Dean brought Iola to Wyoming. They were married on Sept. 3, 1950, settling on the Cosner Sheep Ranch south of Wright. Together they raised four sons.
Dean and Iola were great supporters of the 4-H youth program in Campbell County and were instrumental in forming the Deaf Association of Wyoming. Together they enjoyed traveling, camping, attending the Wyoming State Fair annually and visiting with all their many friends across the nation.
One of their favorite camping groups was the Wyoming Talking “N” Flying Hands Camping Club. Iola enjoyed living on the ranch, she was a founding member of the Thunder Basin Belles homemakers club. She spent quality time doing specialty embroidery, going to craft fairs and trying her hand at different craft projects. She enjoyed playing Bingo at Pioneer Manor.
Iola was adept at reading lips and loved to visit with people; always willing to teach sign language to anyone who was interested in learning. Iola worked at the Gillette News Record while her boys attended high school in Gillette. She retired in 1984 and remained on the ranch until 2006 at which time she moved into the Pioneer Manor Nursing Home in Gillette.
Iola is survived by her four sons and four grandchildren, Barney of Riverton, Wyo., and (Patrice) of Allen, Texas, and their son, Zackery; Danny (Carleen) of Buffalo, Wyo.; Marv (Thelma) of Wright, his daughters, Michelle and Candace and John (Maggie) their daughter Anna of Gillette, Wyo.; two sisters, Louise Cornelius of Grant, Neb. and Vivian (Vickie) Hayden of Hayward, Calif.; and two brothers: Ervin Price of San Leandro, Calif., and Robert Slocum of Shelton, Neb.; two brothers–in-law, Jim Cosner (Bernice) of Akron, Colo., and Ted Cosner (Dianna) of Wright, Wyo.; plus numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Dean, brother, Carlos Price of Bonita, Calif., and sister, Edna Walz of Ogallala, Neb.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Iola’s name have been set up for educational sign language materials or the Wyoming State Fair Legacy Tree program. Memorials and condolences may be sent in care of Gillette Memorial Chapel, 210 W. Fifth St, Gillette, WY 82716 or condolences via the Internet at www.gillettememorialchapel.com.