This geocache is placed in honor of my dad, Lowell Ray Anderson, known in the geocaching world as Just_Plain_Ornery.
My dad was born in Riverton, WY in 1937, the youngest of four brothers. He held many interesting jobs, including being a radio disk jockey, a surveyor, and an extra in an opera. He served our country proudly (as did all his brothers) in the United States Army where he earned a letter of commendation and a good conduct medal. While he told stories of the forts he stayed at and the places he visited, he never did talk about what he actually did for the Army. He attended and graduated from MIT in Cambridge, MA and shortly thereafter met my mother at Tremont Temple in Boston.
My parents moved back to Wyoming a few years later when a job opportunity provided that chance, settling in Cody. Lowell was very active in the community, attending the concerts in the park, serving on the Cody City Council, Wyoming Municipal Power Agency, Cody Planning & Zoning, Wyoming Planning Association, Wyoming Association of Rural Water Systems, and One-Call of Wyoming. He was honored on his 80th birthday with a letter from Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi thanking my dad for difference he had made in the community.
Other than his signature answer to “How are you doing?” my dad was also very well known for handing out pocket calendars with Bible verses on them. He gave them to very nearly every person he met, going through thousands of them each year.
My dad got into geocaching a few years after I started doing it, despite him already being in his 70’s and not overly mobile. It turned out to one of the better bonding activities for us. His caching name came from his standard response to anyone's inquiry as to how he was doing, "As ornery as ever." While not a prolific cacher, he was persistent. As his mobility difficulties increased, he kept on finding caches, sometimes enlisting my mom to look for ones down low and even bushwhacking through waist high grass with his walker to find a cache. He and my mom would follow my caching trips, reading my logs as I posted them. He kept track of my caching activity until just a few days before his death.
You can find link to a newspaper article written about my dad here: Cody Enterprise Article
This cache has been placed with full permission from the family (and by the family).