Violet (While) and Gordon Roop
Page by Bob Leathers
Life Story
1924 August 6: Violet While was born in Hanna, Wyoming to John Jr. "Jack" and Janet "Jessie" (Tennant) While
Violet Louse While, Young daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John While Hr., Hanna (UPCCEM, December 1927)
1926: The Hanna Opera House burned down. Strong winds created a huge blaze and the building burned to the ground in a short period of time. Community and school activities, such as movies and graduation held at the Opera House, were moved to the Community Hall.
1927 August 24: The new Hanna Hospital opened. It is now housed in the previous Hanna School and then the Cottage Home Hotel.
1927 November 19: The new Union Pacific Coal Company's Hanna Amusement Center under the management of the Love family was opened. First on the program was the American flag flashing on the screen and the National Anthem sung by Mr. Jack Lee, after which Mr. Butler gave an address which was followed by the picture "McFadden Flats." A very large audience attended and enjoyed the program.
1929 August 2: Gordon Clifford Roop was born in Indianola, Nebraska to Ira and Edith Roop.
1930: The average Hanna Miner made $7.00 a day in wages.
1930: During the Great Depression, Gordon was living in Sherman, Nebraska.
1934: Violet's dad, Jack While, worked in the Hanna No. 2 Mine. During World War II when the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 2 Mine in Hanna experienced a shortage of labor, Violet While and some other women worked in the Tipple picking slate, bone and rock from the coal belt.
1940 June 3: The new Post Office, which is the remodeled filling station near the site of the old Company Store, was opened on June 3rd. It is a very attractive building both inside and out. Miss Bertha Ekman is Mr. Kelly’s new assistant, filling the vacancy made by the resignation of Mrs. Frances Withrow on June 1st. (UPCCEM, July 1940)
1941 December 7: The Japanese bombed the American Naval fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing more than 2,400 Americans.
1941: The largest steam locomotive ever built, the Big Boy, went into service for Union Pacific Railroad. It steamed through Hanna many times.
1941: The Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 4 Mine in Hanna was abandoned. It was a big deal in Hanna when the No. 4 Mine moved from near Front Street in Hanna to about two miles north of Hanna and became the No. 4A Mine.
1946: The Hanna gymnasium burned down at Christmas time. The basketball team was forced to practice in the Finn Hall, which was located near the school, and play most of their home games in Rawlins. Despite all the difficulties, the Hanna team placed third in the district tournament and fourth in the state tournament.
1948: The new Hanna School Gym was in full use by the school.
1949: The Blizzard of 1949 was the worst storm in Wyoming history. The storm created nearly intolerable conditions in Hanna. The blizzard closed the Union Pacific Railroad's main line through Hanna for seven weeks. The state of Wyoming suffered significant damage during the blizzard of 1949. It was, without a doubt, the most memorable storm to occur in the town of Hanna. It wasn't so much the amount of snow that fell, it was the wind that blew constantly, up to 80 miles per hour without letting up, resulting in huge snow drifts. The temperatures remained below zero most of the time. Some drifts were reported up to 40 feet deep, stretching for hundreds of feet. Some buildings in Hanna were entirely covered with snow. At a minimum, drifts reached the roofs of houses and residents had to tunnel out of their houses. Train traffic was entirely stopped. The railroad tracks and earth cut banks were filled with snow, making train movement impossible. Roads were closed. Large equipment, such as bulldozers, was required to move the huge amount of snow to allow traffic flow.
1950: The Finn Hall was moved from near the old high school to the north edge of town near the present-day football field in order to make room for the new high school.
1950: A new Hanna High School was built.
1954 February 28: The Union Pacific Coal Company abandoned all of their mining operations in Hanna.
1954 March: The firing of all the miners in Hanna created tough times for the miners and their families. Many families became destitute with no job, no income and no place to go. With so many miners suddenly unemployed in Hanna, the lack of income to buy food became a critical issue, consequently the Federal Commodity Program was started in Hanna. The program assisted the needy unemployed Hanna miners and their families with food items until other employment could be found. In the beginning the program consisted of beans and potatoes, but later expanded to canned meats, flour, rice and other federal surplus food items as they became available. The program proved to be extremely beneficial and lasted for several years.
1954: The Hanna Hospital was closed.
1958 December 28: Violet While married Gordon Roop in Laramie, Wyoming.
Violet and Gordon Roop (While Family Collection from Bob Leathers)
Gordon worked for the Union Pacific Railroad.
Gorden Roop worked as a Telegrapher in both the new and old union pacific railroad depot. (While Family Collection from Bill and Kristy Becker)
1960: Rosebud Coal Sales Company, a division of Peter Kiewit and Sons, arrived in Hanna to strip mine coal in 1959. The company's first year of coal production in Hanna was 1961. The mine first operated west of Hanna then later utilized the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 4A tipple north of Hanna.
1970: New strip-mining companies moved into the Hanna Basin. They brought with them powerful methods in removing the topsoil and drilling and blasting the overburden with explosives.
1972: A new modular Hanna depot was installed, replacing the original depot. Herb Becker was first trick operator and Gordon Roop was the agent working at the depot at the time. Also employed by the Union Pacific Railroad at the depot were Michael Guyot, second trick operator, Wayne Keller, third trick operator and Richard Roby, relief man. The new depot was located just east of the original depot. The old depot was completely demolished. Helping with the demolition were railroad employees, Joe Bisignano and William Martinez.
1974: The Lions Club of Hanna was chartered. Charter members were: Leo Leathers, Jerry, Kissinger, Kenneth Hartman, James Barnes, Dale Yates, Joe Doherty, James Wolfe, Ward Fenimore, Robert Jackson, Arthur Goodall, Frank Conway, Ed McAtee, Jim Poulos and Gordon Roop.
1974: Medicine Bow Coal Company completed development and construction at its Medicine Bow mine and was preparing to begin production in 1975.
1975: The Hanna railroad overpass was officially opened. Mayor Gordon Roop and former mayor Shorty Dundas were inside the first vehicle over the bridge, Bob Jackson's Model T Ford.
1979 Thursday April 12: The first issue of the Hanna Herald was printed.
1982 July 5: The Finn Hall in Hanna burned down while being converted into apartments.
1983: The Energy Development Company and Resource Exploration and Mining Company ended coal production and closed their mines. Energy Development started coal production in the Hanna Basin in 1970. The company was involved in mine development for approximately a year prior to that. The company employed a drilling company from Edgemont, South Dakota to do core drilling for the mine's coal studies. The drilling company later became the Resource Exploration and Mining Company and they expanded to do surface mining for Energy Development. The Resource Exploration and Mining Company operated the Rimrock No. 1 and No. 2 surface mines west of Hanna. Rimrock No. 1 started coal production in 1970 and the Rimrock No. 2 followed in 1971. Coal production for both mines ended in 1983.
1984: The Hanna Recreation Center was built by the Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board.
1992: Rosebud Coal Sales in Hanna closed coal production and started reclamation work.
2000: Wyoming’s population was 493,782 people. 15,639 of those lived in Carbon County and 823 lived in Hanna, a loss in Hanna of 203 individuals.
2001 December 21: Violet (While) Roop died in Laramie, Wyoming at the age of 77. She and Gordon had been married for 42 years. She was buried in the Hanna, Wyoming Cemetery. She was a lifetime member of the Hanna St. Mark's Episcopal Church.
2004: The town of Hanna continued to lose population as more miners were laid off at the Arch of Wyoming's Mines.
2005 November 9: Gordon Roop died in Laramie, Wyoming, at the age of 76. He was buried in the Hanna, Wyoming cemetery next to his wife Violet.
Hanna Basin Death and Burial Records
Roop, Gordon C.
Cemetery: Hanna
Headstone: "Aug. 2, 1929 - Nov. 9, 2005"
Plot: Block 4 Lot 9
Born: Aug. 2, 1929
Died: Nov. 9, 2005
Age: 76 y's, 3 m's, 7 d's
Cemetery: Hanna
Headstone: "Aug. 2, 1929 - Nov. 9, 2005"
Plot: Block 4 Lot 9
Born: Aug. 2, 1929
Died: Nov. 9, 2005
Age: 76 y's, 3 m's, 7 d's
Roop, Violet L.
Cemetery: Hanna
Headstone: "Aug. 6, 1924 - Dec. 21, 2001"
Plot: Block 4 Lot 9
Born: Aug. 6, 1924
Died: Dec. 21, 2001
Age: 77 y's, 4 m's, 15 d's
Cemetery: Hanna
Headstone: "Aug. 6, 1924 - Dec. 21, 2001"
Plot: Block 4 Lot 9
Born: Aug. 6, 1924
Died: Dec. 21, 2001
Age: 77 y's, 4 m's, 15 d's
(Image by Bob Leathers for the Hanna Basin Museum Website)
(Image by Bob Leathers for the Hanna Basin Museum Website)
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