Farewell to the Voice of the Valley

Whether you’ve been in the Valley for generations or have recently moved here, most everyone is familiar with the booming voice of Loren “Teense” Willford.

Early Tuesday morning, that voice fell silent as Teense passed away.

When we think of Teense, we see a larger than life man with an incredible sense of humor, the well-known resounding voice during parades and events, an entertainer, a veteran and a former legislator.

How do you describe a man who had so many talents and touched so many lives?

We will start with how the staff at the Saratoga Sun felt about him. Dee Dee Martz said, “Teense was one of the first people I met and I fell in love with immediately.” She met him at the Senior Center in Saratoga for lunch after first moving to Saratoga.

Josh Wood, who has lived in the Valley since he was 14, does not remember how he first met Teense, but when Josh was working at the grocery store, Teense would say “take the rest of the day off with pay.”

Liz Wood heard of Teense before she moved to the Valley. At that time, he was a state representative for House District 47. She liked his down to earth style. She said, “Teense always greeted me with a hug and a kiss.”

D’Ron Campbell heard Teense before she saw him with a boisterous “How is D’Ron doing today?” He always had a twinkle in his eye and a big smile on his face.

We are sure our readers all have memories of Teense. As of Tuesday morning, a post by his son Mark on Facebook announcing Teense had passed away had nearly 200 comments an hour after being published.

Teense volunteered his entertaining skills at the Saratoga Senior Center and the Saratoga Care Center. He entertained the members of the Old Baldy Club, guests at the A Bar A Ranch and Brush Creek Ranch. His band, Wyoming Home Grown, traveled all over the country to entertain people. We always enjoyed his meal posts during his travels.

Teense was a member of the Angus England American Legion Post No. 54 and the Platte Valley Foreign Wars Post No. 6125. He attended Memorial Day Services and sang “God Bless America” in Encampment for the VFW and was a guest speaker and entertainer for many of their activities. Teense served in West Berlin, Germany during the Cold War.

He was an announcer for the Saratoga football games for many years.

He was the representative for House District 47 from 1987 to 2002 and served on many committees.

He was the parade announcer for the 4th of July parade and Lighted Christmas parade in Saratoga and for the Woodchopper’s Jamboree and Rodeo parade in Encampment/Riverside.

He volunteered for many fundraisers as an auctioneer. He entertained the people at the fundraisers with his charm and wit and physical antics to get more bids. Although he was not a fast-talking auctioneer like the professionals one thing was for sure - the crowd left smiling.

He was often a guest speaker at events in the Platte Valley. In fact, there are too many to list. He also led several memorial services and funerals. He was a eulogist at many of them.

He was a father, grandfather and friend.

We will miss his booming voice, his sense of humor and his down-home conversations.

Rest in Peace Teense.