Alvin Wiederspahn (January 18, 1949 – October 24, 2014) was an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the

Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of ...

(1979–1984) and Wyoming Senate (1985–1988).

Early life and education

Wiederspahn was born in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

on January 18, 1949. He graduated from

Cheyenne Central High School Cheyenne Central High School is a public secondary school (grades 9-12) located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States. It serves Laramie County School District #1. The high school serves students who attended McCormick JHS, Clawson ES, Davis ES, ...

and later received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

from the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

and

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from Sturm College of Law at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Wiederspahn was admitted to the

Wyoming State Bar The Wyoming State Bar is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Wyoming. History The Wyoming State Bar was organized in 1915 as a voluntary association, and integrated by the state legislature in 1939. Structure The B ...

and began practicing law in

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he served in the

from 1979 to 1984 and Wyoming Senate from 1985 until 1988.

Personal life

Wiederspahn was the husband of Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. They had one daughter, Annaliese. Wiederspahn died of a heart attack in Cheyenne on October 24, 2014. He was buried at Beth El Cemetery. After Wiederspahn's death, Lummis dropped her bid for the chairmanship of the Republican Study Committee and opted not to seek a fifth term in Congress, retiring in 2017. Lummis went on to win the

2020 United States Senate election in Wyoming The 2020 United States Senate election in Wyoming was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Wyoming, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other electio ...

to replace the retiring incumbent Mike Enzi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiederspahn, Alvin 1949 births 2014 deaths Cheyenne Central High School alumni University of Wyoming alumni Sturm College of Law alumni Wyoming lawyers Democratic Party members of the Wyoming House of Representatives Democratic Party Wyoming state senators Burials in Wyoming People from Cheyenne, Wyoming 20th-century American lawyers