On March 3, 2017, Heaven opened its door to a Mountain Man--William Perry Binning.  After a valiant struggle with a failing heart, Perry, 75, died at his home near Cora, Wyoming with family at his side.  Until the end of his life, Perry was clear of mind and maintained his sense of humor.  Many of his beloved family and friends visited Perry in the last weeks of his life, igniting his signature grin and twinkling blue eyes.  To each visitor, he would say, "Live a good life; enjoy yourself; do the things that make you happy."  Then he would add, "I love you, man.  You're a good man...you're a good woman."

Perry is preceded in death by his wife Connie; his parents; brother-in-law, Frank Skorcz and his wife, Evelyn; sister-in-law, Shirley (Leo Skorcz); brother-in-law, Fred Boyce (Barbara); and sister and brother-in-law, Rhea (Binning) and Paul Sahler.

Remaining to share Perry's and Connie's memories and legacy are… children and grandchildren: daughter--Holly (James) Thayne/Kaylum, Shilo, Kelly (Mitch)/Kati, Jake (Marci)/Brynley, Jackson; son--Darin (Aimee) Binning/Ashton Rogers, Dominic Vaughn, Amelie and Quin Binning/(Jennifer Wilson)/Perry, Madelyn (Calvin) Root; chosen daughter--Dorothy (Michael) Roberts/Beth Hendricks; sisters-in-law--Margaret (James) Noble; Barbara Boyce; Kathy (Kelly) Brown; brothers-in-law--Edward (Fern) Skorcz; Leo Skorcz; sister/Deedee (Binning); and 20 nieces and 20 nephews.

Perry was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming on April 2, 1941 to Rheo Perry and Laretta Mallory Binning.  He was baptized in the LDS Church in Pinedale on November 12, 1949.  His early years were spent at the Binning ranch on Willow Creek near Pinedale.  When he reached elementary school age, Perry's dad took a job with the County and moved his family to a home that remains in the Binning family near the site of the old KOA campground.  They kept some chickens and a milk cow.  Perry soon learned to milk, though he always said he was never quite certain why?

During his school years, Perry was by no means an A student; he did not like cracking the books, but he could figure out how to pass any test that was placed before him.  Seems his lifelong friend, Larry Kirkpatrick, had a mom who had been an English teacher.  She would help the boys understand their homework, so when Perry sat down to take a test he would pass with flying colors!  This most certainly was not expected, so his teacher would move Perry to a different seat, thinking he had copied from another student's paper, but still he would ace the test!  His teacher never did figure out Perry's secret.

Perry had a passion for FFA and would reacquisition any material he needed to build trailers, motors, or anything he could imagine.  He was mechanical--a welder, an engineer, a craftsman, a hands-on person who could make anything work.

During high school, Perry participated in all the sports: football, basketball, and track, and was named Pinedale's prom and homecoming king, proudly keeping his crowns on a bedroom shelf.

Fortune smiled upon sixteen-year-old Perry one fine day when he ventured into the valley of Eden, Wyoming where he spotted his future bride as she and her mother loaded hay bales onto the back of an old truck.  With a gleam in his eye, Perry thought:  "I've got to marry a woman like that!"  And so it came to pass, that a short while later, in Pinedale, Wyoming, Perry's good friends, Fred Boyce and Jim Noble, and their girlfriends, Barbara and Margaret Skorcz, together with little sister, Connie, dropped by Perry's home to pick him up for a date which set in motion the couple's destiny.  Not so easy, at first, though!  Perry, with a lariat rope in hand, swinging at a stationary "bovine," tried his best to impress young Connie, but she promptly labeled him a show-off!  It took some doing, but in due time, Perry won the heart of the 13-year-old, young lady.  They found ways to see each other with Perry traveling quite regularly between Pinedale and the Eden Valley, attending dances and local events, until Connie graduated from high school in Farson, Wyoming in May, 1962.

By now, Perry had enrolled in and completed trade school in Salt Lake City.  Larry Kirkpatrick went along, too, and attended all the classes with Perry, but never did enroll.  The boys lived in a little apartment on 4th street right behind the school with Larry being the cook for the pair since Perry did not like to cook!  They survived will on tuna, noodles, and hamburger, and for extra money, they even tried door-to-door salesmanship selling cooking supplies called Rena Ware.  They lasted one week at the job and decide that was not for them!  After three months, Larry returned to Pinedale, but Perry stayed on and worked at a mechanic shop until he could earn enough money to buy a wedding ring for Connie.

On June 2, 1962, Perry and Connie were happily wed in Pinedale's Community Church and were later sealed for eternity in the LDS Temple in Logan, Utah on July 16, 1982.

The young couple literally "made" their home on the banks of Pine Creek in Shelter Park, putting their combined talents to work constructing their first home and happily welcoming the births of their children, Holly and Darin.  When Holly was born in August of 1963, her dad later told her, with a big grin, "You ruined a perfectly good fishing day!"  Though she was Perry's first daughter, Holly fondly remembers always telling her dad that she was his first boy and Darin was his second!

Perry and Connie welcomed Dorothy into the family in 1984 and Perry affectionately made sure that Dorothy was able to hunt, fish and work.  He had to endue some rather unpleasant meals from his kids as the cooking part of the deal was not realized until later as time does perfect those skills.

Fred Boyce and Perry soon started a business together--B and B Repair and B and B Outfitters, which for several years was a guide service for big game hunts.  Perry, always a passionate outdoorsman, never called his life's pursuits a labor.  He and his family worked hard, so they could play hard, and vacations were spent in the mountains, never a tropical isle!

As time passed, Perry left the B and B business, and he and Connie, together with Holly and Darin, started a family venture building log garages, log homes, and woodcraft such as lamps for people, many of which were given as gifts.  Perry loved logging in the mountains and harvesting his own materials for their varied projects, so in the mid-70's the family started the Binning Sawmill at the Cora Junction and, in the early 1980's, they built the home of their dreams in the beautiful Upper Green River Valley.

While working on many building projects, the family would camp at the site, work hard all day, and then while Connie cooked up their favorite supper of eld steak, mashed potatoes, and veggies, the kids would explore the area on their motorbikes.  Indeed, this was Perry's and Connie's little family, always working together and playing together--hunting, water-skiing, snow skiing, dancing, living, and loving life and each other.

Perry and life long friend Spike Jorgensen together with their families took on building the Tie Hack Lodge.  This was a labor of love and has blessed countless people with a meeting place for families, the local Boy Scouts, and others to enjoy the beautiful mountain.  It has been a long standing tradition for the Boy Scouts to come up and do a big service project of cutting multiple cords of wood for Perry and Connie.  The work was hard but many hands made it quick.  Good food was prepared by Connie as the end reward for all who helped and the lessons of life were abundant.

The family built cow camps in the Upper Green and several Structures in Utah.  Garages, lean-to's, sheds, a hay barn, and many beautiful homes grace Sublette County.  Over 150 projects were completed by the Binning family!  But, of them all, one of the most important buildings to Connie and Perry was Holly's new home.  Before Connie died, she told Perry, "Make certain that you help her finish her house!"  Though he cut timber for it until October, 2016 when his health further declined, Perry's wish to Fulfill Connie's request was not to be realized.

For certain, Perry was a friend to all, but among his lifelong friends were Fred Boyce, Larry Kirkpatrick, Jim Noble, and Charlie Raper.  Perry was an avid snowmobiler in the early 1970's, so it only seemed right that he and his band of buddies would compete in many challenging, 100-mile-cross-country races.  The rugged team was unbeatable and many trophies line the walls of their homes.

Perry never met a stranger.  He helped folks who were stranded alongside empty highways and would give to anyone, anything he or she needed, if he had it.  One time he purchased a way, cool, two-wheel-drive truck, which Holly excitedly decided that she would but from her dad.  But, to her disappointment, she was soon to discover that Perry had already given it to Stanley Weniger because he was down on his luck and especially in need of a good ride!

When Perry's mom and dad went down in a small plane in the Wind River Mountains in 1979 he decided that he was going to become a pilot.  This was not an easy task for him but none the less he did accomplish what he set out to do.  He studied countless hours and got his pilot license.  Then he bought a plane and started searching for his family and enjoyed the mountains in a completely different realm.  There was never an obstacle or trial that he did not conquer in one way or another.

Perry and Connie loved to take off and head to Hurricane, Utah and had a base camp at Harold and Nancy Merritt's place.  They loved to 4-wheel all over and enjoyed the friendship of those who were able to join them.  They even went down into Baja Mexico and stayed for long periods of time learning new areas.  They loved the people wherever they went and dad was famous for inviting everyone to come to Wyoming and visit the mountain.

Perry had a particularly wry sense of humor!  He could tease anyone and get away with it.  On one particular occasion, after working all day with a nice young man on their mountain house, Perry approached him and put his arm around his shoulders.  Perry asked, "What is that in your ear?"  The boy proudly answered, "It's an earring!"  To which Perry replied, grinning, "Oh, I see!  And what are you going to do next?  Squat to pee!"

Perry and Connie loved animals and had a special knack for befriending the wild ones.  They had several pine marten pets and even made friends with a fox and a skinny, little bear cub that they guessed had been orphaned.  The cub became gentled to the point where they could pet him and feed him honey dipped on a stick, which the young cub would tenderly place his paws around and softly, carefully, slurp the golden sweet treat.

One of Perry's most important jobs he had was when he served in the bishopric of the LDS church as 2nd counselor with dear friends Kyle Walder and Dennis Cramer.  He truly loved serving the Lord in the capacity.  He spent several years in this calling and was blessed abundantly.  He and Connie also served a work mission at the Sun Ranch near Independence Rock in Wyoming.  They loved building and constructing hand carts, picnic tables, and fixing up the grounds for everyone to enjoy.

Certainly, over the years, Perry and Connie had many friends up on the mountain, and nearly every day, he would make the rounds to help his neighbors fix four-wheelers and do handiwork to get their day headed in the right direction.  It was these mountain friends who endearingly named Perry, the Mountain Man.  Perry continued to visit their mountain home after Connie's death last April, but it was never the same without Connie by his side, so he spent most of his time at the mill.

Perry's last mountain sheep tag was drawn in 2002, so he decided to take Holly and Darin and all of his grandkids with him to Faler Lake for what would be one of his final sheep hunting trips.  Most certainly, it was a commendable effort because his five small grandkids ranged in age from two to nine years old.  Perry did not fill his tag that season, but, indeed, he filled his and his grandkids' hearts with memories of exactly what he'd gone there to do:  Teach them all he knew about the mountains he loved and how to survive in the great outdoors.

Throughout Perry's youth, except for a broken sternum during high school football, he was in excellent health.  But at age 54, while he and Connie were coming down the mountain with a load of logs he felt strangely ill.  They pulled over at the bottom of the mountain and were met by an ambulance which took Perry to the Jackson hospital.  After a massive heart attack, tests revealed that the lower chamber of his heart had been destroyed.  He was left to live with only one-half of his heart.  The doctors told him he would be restricted in his physical activities going forward, but Perry proved them all wrong.  They later told him that he had been gifted with nine lives and that he was living proof that a person with sheer willpower and fortitude can accomplish more with one-half a heart than many people ever do with a fully functioning heart!

As time passed, Perry had a defibrillator installed, which caused a stroke and the subsequent challenge of relearning to walk and talk again.  But, Perry overcame this obstacle, too.  He most recently had hernia surgery and thereafter began having fainting spells.  Too much for a tired old heart to bear, he was ready to reunite with Connie.

For nearly 54 years, Connie and Perry Binning were workmates and soul mates.  Their love was bigger than the purple mountains and wider than the green valleys of their home.

There's a full moon tonight...We'll call it Perry's Moon!  It will light the path for all to see as Perry finds his sweet Connie once again… They'll not be far from home, you'll see but, found among the swaying pines...In the scent of chainsaw oil and dust, or in an open park where majestic elk herds graze...In the scurry of curious forest feet and the buzz of the timber flies...Or in the purple mist on mountains high where Bighorn Sheep climb rocky paths and gaze upon a glacier, nigh...And as the sun sinks low on nearby hills, you might hear them call to you…You have the tools, you have the skill; You have the way, and you have the will!

You were a good woman, Connie; and you were a good man, Perry!

We Love You, Man!

Submitted by Cris Paravicini and Holly S. Thayne