Robert Schliske

Background

Schliske was born in a farmhouse east of Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Paul Schliske and the former Hattie Hansch. That same year the family moved to Carpenter a rural community southeast of Cheyenne in Laramie County, where he graduated from Carpenter High School. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy Air Corps as a radio operator.

Career

After the war, Schliske attended the University of Wyoming at Laramie, his state's only four-year degree-granting institution of higher education. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and a Master of Science in education. In 1950, he returned to his alma mater, Carpenter High School, to teach vocational agriculture. He was the advisor to his school's Future Farmers of America chapter, which was selected "best in Wyoming" for eight consecutive years and twice received a national gold emblem award. He was a former president of the Wyoming Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association and a member of Phi Delta Kappa and Alpha Tau Alpha.

In 1963, Schliske moved to Cheyenne, where he worked for the State of Wyoming during the administration of Republican Governor Clifford P. Hansen, first, as director of civil defense adult education and then, as director of manpower development and training. In March 1969, he became in effect one of the first employees of Laramie County Community College, having been named dean of vocational-technical education and then dean of instruction. He retired from LCCC in 1984.

Schliske served two two-year terms in the 60-member Wyoming House as an at-large member from Laramie County. He was not a candidate for a third term in the 1974 primary. He served thereafter on the board of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and the Cheyenne Airport Golf Club. He was a former member of Civitan International, the Lions International, and the Wyoming Senior Golfers Association.

Personal life

In 1947, Schliske married the former Helen Jean Konig (September 19, 1925 – February 1976). In 1980, he married the former Rosalind "Roz" Routt (born c. 1951) in Cheyenne. She is a former Texan, a one-time reporter for the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, and a since retired 40-year journalism instructor and director of multi-media at LCCC. "I really believe journalism is a high calling, and we can effect change in our communities and do good," said Rosalind Schliske upon her retirement.

Schliske died at the Davis Hospice Center in Cheyenne. He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Elmer Schliske, and Hilbert L. Schliske (1922–2005) and Ronald Schliske (1932–1985), both of Torrington in Goshen County; and two sisters, Edna L. Gallina (1914–1997) of Los Angeles, California, and Elsie E. Penwell (1915–2001).

In addition to his wife, Schliske was survived by a son, Robert P. Schliske, II (born 1964), of Cheyenne; three daughters, Laura Wright of Cheyenne, Debra Rose of Lusk, the seat of Niobrara County in eastern Wyoming, and Chris Black of Greeley, Colorado; two sisters, Esther Hagemann of Denver, and Eleanor Romsa of Los Angeles; ten grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Services were held on June 27, 2007, at Ascension Lutheran Church in Cheyenne, of which Schliske was a member. Interment was at Cheyenne Memorial Gardens.

The former lawmaker is remembered through the Robert and Rosalind Schliske Scholarship, LCCC Foundation, 1400 East College Drive, Cheyenne, WY 82007.

Deaths of other legislators

Schliske was the fourth former Cheyenne lawmaker to have died in a two-month period from April 20 to June 21, 2007. Republican Joseph D. Selby and Democrat Edwin H. Whitehead died on April 20 and May 20, respectively. Former Republican Representative Larry D. Shippy, who served from 1993–1996, died on June 8. In addition, Republican U.S. Senator Craig Thomas of Casper died on June 4. In September, Dean T. Prosser, whose legislative service began with that of Schliske's, died in Rhode Island, where he had retired.