Leon Gilbert Roden

Obituary

Leon Gilbert Roden

November 25, 1944 – March 6, 2026

Leon Gilbert Roden, 81, of Ten Sleep, Wyoming passed away on March 6, 2026 in Billings, Montana following complications from Parkinsons and a recent stroke.

The third child to Gilbert Bernard and Ora Mary Croteau Roden, he was born on November 25, 1944 in Anoka, Minnesota. Due to his father's work, Leon moved frequently during his school years and worked in his parent's café.

After graduating from West High School in Mankato, Minnesota in 1963, Leon approached a Navy recruiter knowing that his chances of being drafted into the Vietnam War were likely. He served 3 tours as a prep cook on an oiler, USS Caliente.

Upon his return to Mankato, Leon joined the Fire Department driving fire engines. This was one of his greatest achievements. He took extended vacations hunting and fishing with family and friends in Minnesota, Colorado and Wyoming. It was on one of these hunting trips to Wyoming that Leon first met Dale Lyman and formed a close friendship. Leon would go on to hunt in Alaska where he took a moose, Dall sheep and grizzly.

Leon first met Cheryl Simons through a fellow firefighter that was married to her twin sister. At the time, Cheryl was a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines and lived in Detroit, Michigan, formerly Worthington, Minnesota. They soon married on February 14, 1978 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Mankato.

A home was built by him and his dad at 1222 E. Main Street, another achievement he was incredibly proud of. He kept an extensive garden and an array of flowers. He also trapped and sold pelts for extra income and harvested walnuts from the trees on their property.

In 1992 after extensive pressures of eminent domain from Immanuel St. Joseph Hospital, Leon and Cheryl moved their family to Ten Sleep, Wyoming. With a forced early retirement due to smoke inhalation from his years of firefighting, Leon and Cheryl decided to move west, a dream they shared.

Leon served terms as a councilman for the town of Ten Sleep in the 1990s and had an active role in the town's celebration days. He enjoyed history, storytelling and marveling at mother nature's creations and was a regular at the café coffee clutch.

While Leon faced challenges in family relationships, he did the best he could with what he knew. The passing of their youngest daughter, Julie, in 2000 was obviously very difficult as was the admittance of Cheryl to a care facility in 2015.

Leon is preceded in death by his parents and survived by his daughter, Angela (Chad) Gordon of Bar Nunn; son, Matt of Ten Sleep; his sisters, Marilyn North, Audrey Willard, Sylvia Disney; brothers, David and Donald; his grandchildren, Cate and Ben, and many nieces and nephews.

Angela wishes to thank the Senior Center community of Ten Sleep, as well as those that cared for dad in his final years. Burial at Ten Sleep Cemetery will take place at a later date.

Memorials, in lieu of flowers, can be sent to VFW Post 309, 129 South 7th St., Worland, WY 82401.