Gratitude

• Publication year: 2023
• Citation: Vol. 46 No. 6 Pg. 32
• Pages: 32

Scheer Gratitude Vol. 46 No. 6 Pg. 32 Wyoming Bar Journal December 2023

Darin navigates the Upset Rapid in the Grand Canyon. “It’s the scariest rapid in a dory,” he said, “because there are rocks that will rip the boat apart, and you can’t see them below.”

by Mary Angell

Farson attorney Darin Scheer encounters some turbulent waters, but he navigates them with Gratitude.

Gratitude is not only the guiding principle of his life; it's also the name of the wooden dory that carries him through the white-water rapids of incredible canyons.

"My dad and stepmom both passed away from Covid six days apart in late 2021," Scheer, senior counsel with Crowley Fleck, told the Wyoming Lawyer. "It was a great loss. As a form of therapy, of sorts, I bought a wooden dory with my brother, and I spent the winter refurbishing it.

"Since then, I've been lucky enough to row the dory for a week on the Yampa River, a week in Hell's Canyon on the Snake River, a week on the Main Salmon River, and—amazingly—two different three-week trips down the Grand Canyon," he said.

Darin and his brother Cory named the dory "Gratitude" in honor of their father, Stan Scheer, and how he lived his life.

Stan Scheer's career and purpose in life was born from an experience in his early childhood. A coach took pity on young Stan because all he had for a baseball glove was one he had found in an incinerator. The coach gave the boy a new glove—and encouragement to do his best.

"Dad, at the end of his life, would tear up to tell that story," Darin said. "He took that baseball glove and played baseball, and he was really good. He went into the Army as a volunteer in the 60's and was named to the All-Army Fastpitch Softball team. You never know how much difference a small gesture can make in somebody else's life."

As a lifelong public educator, Stan did all he could to pay forward that kindness and ensure that kids had the tools to achieve their potential.

His practice lives on through the Dr. Stan Scheer Memorial Student Opportunity Fund in the Thompson School District (Loveland, Colorado), which provides low-income students what they need for extracurricular activities—band uniforms or instruments or sports uniforms, for example.

"He instilled in us a strong sense of gratitude for our blessings and a commitment to try to give back where we could," Darin said. "On each (rafting) trip, whenever any passing groups asked me about the name of my boat, it gave me a...