James Houle

James Carson (J.C.) Houle passed away peacefully on November 27, 2025, at his home in rural Crook County, Wyoming. He was 80 years old. JC was born in Williston, North Dakota on February 23, 1945, to John Frances Houle and Mildred Marion Carson Houle. He was the fifth of seven children.

JC met Pamela Jean Johnson of Crosby, North Dakota and they married in 1971, in Williston, North Dakota. From that union, two sons were born. James Carson Houle II in Williston, North Dakota, in 1971, and David Lee Houle, in Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1974. JC moved with his young family to Gillette, Wyoming in 1975. He and Pam divorced in 1977.

In 1978 he met and married Emily C. Valora of Gillette, Wyoming. This union lasted 47 years, until his death. There were no children born to this union.

JC became a firefighter for the Gillette/Campbell County Fire Department in 1975. He made this his career choice and lived the role 24/7. During his tenure at the department, he worked at building fire trucks and maintaining fire equipment throughout Campbell County to both rural and in town rigs. He worked numerous wild fires as well as structural fires and acted as the airport response firefighter for several years. He was instrumental in establishing the County’s original Arson Task Force as well as overseeing Fire Safety Training for The Department’s volunteers and local school children.

After the death of his two sons on December 20, 1983, in Gillette, from a shooting and bombing incident, JC focused on fire safety for all children. He purchased a fire hydrant robot, naming him “Alfie”, and traveled throughout Campbell, Crook, and Weston Counties to the delight of children as well as adults. He provided this service on his own time to both large and small communities during the 1980s.

In the spring of 1995, he joined his wife in Lakewood, Colorado where she held a position within the civil service. They both returned to northeast Wyoming upon her retirement in 2023.

Ms. Valora would like to thank Campbell County Health/Hospice for all their assistance and care during JC’s final weeks. She cannot express enough, her gratitude to the staff that tended him with such care, dignity, and sincerity during his final days. Per his request, a small grave side remembrance will be held on December 5, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. at Mt. Pisgah Cemetery, Block H.