Barbara Jean Dinges, age 89, passed away on October 11, 2025, at the Weston County Health Services Hospital in Newcastle, Wyoming.
Barbara was born on August 10, 1936, to Floyd and Jessie Sammons of Ft Collins, Colorado. She was raised there along with her three brothers, Ronald, Gerald and Harold.
Upon graduating from high school, Barbara and some of her close friends set out for Southern California in search of fame and fortune. It was there that she met Richard Dinges, a young marine from Wyoming who was stationed at Camp Pendleton.
Barbara and Richard were married in Wheatland, Wyoming on February 22, 1957. There they settled into life and raised their three children, Dudley, Randy and Kris. The Dinges family moved to Newcastle, Wyoming in December of 1971, and Barbara remained there until her passing.
Barbara is survived by Richard, her husband of 68 years, her middle child Randy (Debbie) Dinges, her grandson Colter (Alexis) Overman and her four beautiful great granddaughters. She was preceded in death by her parents, all three brothers, her oldest son, Dudley, and her daughter, Kris.
Along with her family, there were many things that brought Barbara great joy. She and Richard enjoyed camping and traveling. There were many campgrounds in the Black Hills that they frequented, and they camped there often. She often spoke of their month-long camping trip to Alaska and Western Canada as one of her camping highlights.
Barbara enjoyed the occasional pull on a slot machine, with Deadwood being a favorite destination. We would tease her about her ability to quickly parlay a one-hundred-dollar bill down to triple zeroes. She claimed to be money ahead over the years, but she was strangely vague on the details.
Barbara’s favorite activity by far was playing bridge. She was a longtime bridge player, and she really enjoyed the strategy involved in the game and the social outing that playing bridge brought her. She took particular joy in her and her bridge partner beating the men during their Monday afternoon bridge games.
Barbara was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and GG (as her great granddaughters called her), who could always be counted on to be there when needed. Although she has gone to see her beloved son and daughter in heaven, she will be forever missed by those of us she leaves behind.
Graveside services for Barbara will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, October 23, 2025 at the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis. The Reverend Ron Sample of Newcastle will be officiating. Funeral arrangements are being made by the Kinkade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis.