Zona Rose Hougham

Zona Hougham, 81, formerly of Sundance, Wyoming, passed away September 17, 2022, at the Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center in Gillette, Wyoming, where she was a resident of the Memory Care Unit.

Zona, the youngest of seven children, was born at Fort Washakie, Wyoming, November 4, 1940, to Frank Surrell and Rose Lohoe Surrell. She and her family were members of the Eastern Shoshone tribe.

At 20, she moved to Thermopolis, Wyoming, where she worked as a nurse’s aide at the Rest Haven in Hot Springs State Park. It was in Thermopolis that she me Darrell “Red” Hougham. Together they had three children and adopted their first granddaughter.

Zona was a stay-at-home mom, becoming camp cook during deer and elk seasons as Red guided hunters from a camp on the Red Creek Ranch during the ’60s and ’70s. When the older three kids were grown, Zona and Red separated and she and their youngest daughter eventually moved to Lander where she became a CNA at Westward Heights nursing home, until moving to Sundance in 1995.

Zona loved spending time with her kids and grandkids, was an avid rockhound, loved classic country music and Elvis Presley, and enjoyed collecting things, including her prized and vast collection of cigarette lighters.

Zona was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Rose; all her siblings, Charles W. “Billy”, Isadore “Dode”, Leroy, John, Lillian Goggles and Marlene Wolfrang; and husband, Red.

She is survived by her children, Rick (Heather), Sandi Torres, Deb (Rod) Malo and Cedar (Jack) Scribner; grandchildren, Billy, Marino, Mariah; great-grandchildren, Hailee, Tegan and Chelsey; and great-great grandsons, Wyatt and Colter.

Visitation will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, September 22, 2022 at Hudson’s Funeral Home in Lander. According to Zona’s wishes, no funeral will be held. Private family burial will take place at Sacajawea Cemetery.