CHEYENNE -- Mass of Christian Burial for former Wyoming resident Joseph F. Maier, 85, will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17, in St. Mary's Cathedral in Cheyenne by Fr. Carl Beavers.

A second service will be led by Fr. Beavers at 3:30 p.m. Friday in St. Joseph's Children's Home Chapel in Torrington.

Burial, with full military honors, will be in Valley View Cemetery in Torrington.

Rosary/wake service will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Cheyenne.

He died Feb. 11, 2006, in Fort Collins, Colo.

Born Nov. 6, 1920, in Sheridan, he was the son of Edna (Fauver) and Joseph A. Maier; was raised on a ranch outside of town and educated in Sheridan; and often rode his pony, Peggy, to class.

He graduated from Sheridan High School in 1938, attended Compton Junior College in southern California, and then enrolled at the University of Wyoming. His studies were interrupted when he enlisted in the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor; and he served in the infantry in the Aleutian Islands.

After his honorable discharge, he returned to UW; graduated first in his class from UW College of Law; and was admitted to the bar in July 1947. He then was in private practice in Sheridan and Torrington for 25 years.

On June 27, 1942, he married Helen K. Kelley in Laramie. She preceded him in death on July 14, 1991, in Cheyenne, after 49 years of marriage.

Gov. Stan Hathaway appointed him as a judge to the 1st Judicial District in Cheyenne in 1972, where he served until his retirement in 1987. He continued to hear cases as a judge on retirement status. "Wyoming Supreme Court Justice E. James Burke later listed Maier as one of three judges who had the most impact on his early career."

He also served in the Judge Advocate General Corps while in the Army Reserve and retired as a colonel in 1974.

On Sept. 18, 1993, he married Ruth Ann Heist in Cheyenne.

The couple retired to Mesa, Ariz., in 2001.

He had served on the Goshen County School District board; was a trustee of St. Joseph's Children's Home; was a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council; and was a member of the Wyoming State School Board Assoc., the International Association of Trial Judges, Rotary International, and the American Legion.

An avid tennis player, he had been a tennis coach at Torrington High School. He also enjoyed fishing and playing bridge and cribbage.

Survivors include his wife; three daughters, Katheryne "Kit" Earl of Torrington, Maggi Murdock of Casper and Mary Anne Maier of Longmont, Colo.; son, John Maier of Torrington; stepdaughter, Judy Douglass of Wheat Ridge, Colo.; stepson, Dan Heist of Bryn Mawr, Pa.; sister, Della Vivion of Rawlins; 14 grandchildren and step-grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorials to the Hon. Joseph F. Maier "Beyond the Classroom" Fund at UW College of Law or to St. Joseph's Children's Home.

Colyer Funeral Home of Torrington is in charge of arrangements.