Arnold Tschirgi

Arnold Burke Tschirgi was born March 16, 1932 in Sheridan, Wyoming to Eugenia Gertrude Burke and Chester Rudolph Tschirgi. When Arnold was two, his parents moved from Kleenburn to the homestead shack on land his father had homesteaded on Six Mile Creek northwest of Sheridan near Ranchester. Arnold grew up working on his parents’ ranch where both beef cattle and sheep were raised. As a young boy he could be seen driving their flock to and from the dry hills along Early Creek.

Arnold attended Ranchester High School where he graduated valedictorian in a class of three. He excelled as a basketball player and track competitor. Though always busy with ranch chores of milking, haying and feeding, Arnold trained his own horses and successfully competed in racing and jumping competitions. After high school, Arnold enrolled at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois where he participated in a work-study program. There, he played varsity basketball and became a regular in Blackburn Player Theater productions.

After earning an Associate’s degree, Arnold transferred to the University of Wyoming where he was an honor student, theater player and a member of the university rifle and track teams. Upon graduation in 1954, Arnold entered the military service in the voluntary draft. He served two years in the U.S. Army Field Artillery on a Fire Direction Control team in Panama. In a physical competition he was recognized as the most physically fit soldier in the Caribbean, thus earning a three-day pass. (He never shared what he did with that pass.)

Following an honorable discharge, Arnold returned to the University of Wyoming and completed his Juris Doctor degree. After passing the Wyoming State Bar, Arnold joined Art Oeland, an attorney in Lander, Wyoming, and the SHOT firm of Spence, Hill, Oeland and Tschirgi where he served as a deputy prosecuting attorney. In 1968 Arnold became a solo practitioner in Lander and focused on litigation.

Arnold was very active in the Lander Little Theater and won several awards. He belonged to Toastmasters and competed in national competitions. He was an enthusiastic member of the Fremont County Sheriff’s Posse. In 1960 he rode in the Centennial Rerun of the Pony Express.

Arnold met his future wife in the Lander Little Theater production of Cactus Flower. During one performance when Arnold kissed Loretta, a heckler in the audience shouted, “You’ll be sorry, Tschirgi!” Eighteen months later in the fall of 1971 Arnold and Loretta Isenberg were wed in the Chapel of Transfiguration in Moose, Wyoming. To celebrate their vows, the newlyweds rode their horses Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Tschirgis have one son who graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2000. He is currently serving as Executive Officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter STRATTON stationed in Alameda, California.

Arnold was elected several times as Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney, the first Democrat ever elected to this office in the County. A career attorney, he enjoyed the challenges of trial work in both civil and criminal environments. His success in several product liability cases forced a redesign of a dangerous public product. In 2008 the Wyoming State Bar and Supreme Court Justice Scalia honored Arnold for 50 years of service to the legal profession. In 2010, Lois Chambers, Arnold’s legal secretary for 52 years, retired, and Arnold returned to the family ranch on Six Mile Creek to raise black angus cattle. In 2015, the ranch was designated a Wyoming Centennial Farm and Ranch.

Arnold was a life-time member of and local guide for the Lander One Shot Club. In the 1987 Hunt, he was one of three members on the winning Wyoming team.

Arnold was a life-long archery and hunting enthusiast. He successfully hunted deer, antelope and moose with his long bow. He enjoyed Border Collies and horses, skiing, golfing, horseshoes, Senior Olympics, traveling, reading, cinnamon rolls and puns.

Arnold Tschirgi passed away during the night of February 21, 2021 at his home overlooking the Big Horns of his childhood. He is survived by his wife Loretta, his son Charter, daughter-in-law Diane and three grandchildren, Nolan, Colter and Amber.

A celebration of Arnold’s life will be held on the ranch in the summer of 2021. Memorials to honor Arnold may be addressed to the Salvation Army, 150 S Tschirgi, Sheridan, WY 82801.

Online condolences may be made at sheridanfuneral.com. Arrangements are in the care of Sheridan Funeral Home.