Constance Anne Kemmerer, (born ) commonly known as Connie Kemmerer, is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. Kemmerer serves as a co-owner of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, Wyoming in the Jackson Hole valley. She has jointly owned the resort with her siblings, Jay and Betty, since 1992. Their family connection to Wyoming dates to the late nineteenth century when their great-grandfather, Mahlon Kemmerer, financed the founding of the Kemmerer Coal Company. Kemmerer, Wyoming, which started as a company town for Kemmerer Coal Company, is home to the first

J. C. Penney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Girl ...

store.

Early life and education

Kemmerer grew up in

Short Hills, New Jersey Short Hills is an unincorporated community located within Millburn Township, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a popular commuter town for residents who work in New York City. As of the 2020 United States Census, the CDP's pop ...

, a community in Millburn, New Jersey. After graduating from the Beard School (now the Morristown-Beard School) in Orange, New Jersey in 1962, she studied at

Finch College Finch College was an undergraduate women's college in Manhattan, New York City. The Finch School opened as a private secondary school for girls in 1900 and became a liberal arts college in 1952. It closed in 1976. Founding Finch was founded in ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Kemmerer earned her master's degree in

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

. She later earned her Ph.D. in anthropology.

Integrative health and adventuring activities

In 2003, Kemmerer co-founded the Integrative Healthcare Foundation, which now goes by the name Teton Wellness Institute. While serving as chair of the Institute, she organized a presentation by adventurist Lori Schneider. On May 23, 2009, Schneider become the first person diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

to reach the summit of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

, the highest mountain on Earth. Kemmerer served as Schneider's climbing partner when they climbed to the summit of

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

in Tanzania, the tallest mountain in Africa, in 2011. After working with missionaries in Ethiopia as a young adult, Kemmerer had first climbed the mountain at age 20.

C. M. Ranch

In 1997, Kemmerer jointly purchased the C. M. Ranch in

Dubois, Wyoming Dubois is a town in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 971 at the 2010 census, but dropped to 911 in the 2020 census. The population nearly doubles in the summer with many part-time residents. While the Town of Dubois ...

with Jay and Bettie Kemmerer. The

dude ranch A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism. History Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...

is one of the oldest continually operating guest ranches in the U.S. Charles Moore, the son of a trader at

Fort Washakie Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte. In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp ...

on the

Wind River Indian Reservation The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho ( arp, h ...

, started C. M. Ranch in 1927 and ran it until the 1950s. C. M. Ranch lies adjacent to

Whiskey Mountain Whiskey Mountain () is located in the northern Wind River Range in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Located south of Dubois, Wyoming, Whiskey Mountain is within the Whiskey Mountain Wilderness Study Area, which has the largest wintering concentration ...

, home to the largest wintering

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

herd in North America. The ranch's location in a valley in the Wind River Mountain Range near Shoshone National Forest enables its guests to visit

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

with a short drive by car. The south entrance to the park is about 60 miles from the ranch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemmerer, Connie Ranchers from Wyoming American mountain climbers American female climbers American women business executives American business executives People from Jackson Hole, Wyoming Businesspeople from Millburn, New Jersey Finch College alumni Indiana University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American sportswomen Morristown-Beard School alumni People from Dubois, Wyoming 21st-century American women