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Note: Obituary from the Wyoming State Tribune dated 10/10/1980 William J. Dinneen Sr., Cheyenne civic leader and longtime auto dealer, died here early Friday morning after a lengthy illness. He was 83.
The son of a pioneer family, Dinneen was born Jan. 15, 1897 in Cheyenne and graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1916. He was a 1919 graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.
Dinneen was appointed to the original Cheyenne Water Board in 1933 by Mayor Ed Warren. He served as board president from 1949 - 1969, during which time the Cheyenne will fields were developed and plans formulated for the Little Snake River Trans-Mountain Diversion Project, the water rights acquired and Phase I completed.
Closely associated with Cheyenne Frontier Days, Dinneen was a member of the Heels. Because his father served as Frontier Days Parade chairman from 1906 - 1909 and his son as parade chairman from 1969 through 1971, Dinneen was especially proud that he held the same chairmanship in 1935 and 1936. His daughter, Ann, was Miss Frontier in 1947.
Dinneen was president of the cheyenne chamber of Commerce in 1939, of the Cheyenne Rotary Club in 1932 and of the Young Men's Literary Club and the Cheyenne Automobile Dealers Association.
He was a member of the Wyoming Highway Commission from 1947 - 1953, Mountain States Telephone Board, 1955 - 1970, Mountain States Telephone Wyoming Advisory Board, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Bishop's Advisory Council for the Cheyenne Diocese of the Catholic Church, American National Bank Board, Laramie County Draft Board, American Legion and Sierra Club.
Dinneen's father, William E. Dinneen, settled in Cheyenne in 1879 moving here from Kansas. His mother, Katherine Tierney, moved to Cheyenne from Hartford, Conn. in 1886 to become a telephone operator. the family first homesteaded west of Cheyenne, started a grocery business and later opened the Bon-Ton Stable, which was advertised as Cheyenne's Finest. In 1906, the Dinneens began selling automobiles - Buick, American and Reo.
When the Cheyenne Electric Railway closed in 1924, the family started the Cheyenne Motor Bus Company, which Dinneen operated until 1957.
Dinneen's son, William, and grandson, John, remain in the trasportation business and continue to operate Dinneen Lincoln Mercury and Subaru.
Suvivors include his children, William J. Dinneen Jr., Mrs. Clark (Ann) Smith, Mrs. Andrew E. (Priscilla) Roedell III of Cheyenne and Mrs. James B. (Peggy) Cunningham of Leawood, Kan; 22 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren; a niece, Mrs. Robert (Helen Hutchinson) McGraw of Stuart, Fla; and four nephews, William M. Murray, Edward F. Murray Jr. and Donald F. Murray of Cheyenne and Col. Eugene Crowley of Austin, Texas.
Dinneen was preceded in death by his wife, Ann, in 1949, his wife, Margaret, in 1977, a daughter, Mrs. Jack (Kate Dinneen) Rhoades, a son, John F. Lynch and a grandson, Clark Smith, Jr.
All his brothers and sisters are deceased - Maureen Dinnen, Roy Donneen, Margaret Dinneen Hutchinson and Nan Dinneen Crowley.
Pallbearers and honorary pallbearers will be his grandsons, John Dinneen, James Dinneen, Timothy Smith, Lt. Christopher Smith, Paul Smith, William Smith, Michael Rhoades, Dr. James Cunningham, John Cunningham, David Cunningham, John Lynch, Timithy Lynch and Patrick Lynch.
Rosary and scripture service will be recited at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Schrader Funeral Home.
Mass of Christian Burial will be read at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Cathedral.
Contributions may be made to St. Mary's Catheral or the Old West Museum, P.O. Box 2824.
SSN 520-01-7133
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