Larry D. Shippy

Larry Deleo Shippy (June 4, 1946 – June 8, 2007) was a Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, having served in Laramie County District 8, including part of Cheyenne, from 1993–1996. Shippy was known for his efforts to expand the privatizing of government services. He also headed the Indian Committee during the centennial of the popular Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo from 1994–1996.
Shippy was born to Orris D. and Ruby M. Shippy in Burke, the seat of rural Gregory County, in southern South Dakota. He obtained a bachelor's degree in education degree from Grace University (then Grace College of the Bible) in Omaha, Nebraska. Grace University is nondenominational but of Mennonite heritage. Shippy moved to Cheyenne in 1969. He was a real estate agent for Grubb & Ellis, having previously owned and operated Burke Moving and Storage for twenty years.
At the time of his death, Shippy was the treasurer of the Cheyenne Board of Realtors and the federal coordinator for the Wyoming Association of Realtors as liaison to the office of Republican U.S. Senator Michael "Mike" Enzi. Over the years, he was affiliated with Youth for Christ, the Chamber of Commerce, Cheyenne LEADS, Rotary International, and the Wyoming Truckers Association.
His obituary describes Shippy as having been "passionate about history and politics and enjoyed cooking, golfing, snowmobiling, and pheasant hunting in his spare time." He was also known for his sense of humor and as a practical joker.
Kim Andereck, a colleague of Shippy's at Grubb & Ellis, described the retired lawmaker in an interview with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle as:
just a sweet, godly man. He had a real passion for people. He just loved being in service to friends, clients and organizations within the community. ... I always found it interesting someone who had studied in the seminary would end up as a commercial real-estate broker. He had a love of the Lord and a passion for people, and I think it was a pretty good combination.
Former State Representative John Hanes, who served with Shippy in the legislature in the 1990s, recalled Shippy as a person who was passionate about privatizing functions that government had usually performed but which could be handled by the private sector at cost savings. Shippy's sense of humor, Hanes said, often broke the ice during tense legislative deliberations.
Hanes was later elected to the Wyoming State Senate from District 5, which includes much of Cheyenne and some rural areas of Laramie County. Hanes was term-limited in 2006, and Shippy ran unsuccessfully for the right to succeed him. In the campaign, Shippy attributed Wyoming's housing shortage to a lack of reasonably priced land that can be annexed and developed for low-cost housing, something he claimed that lawmakers can address with legislation. He spent less than $2,000 in the race. The Republican nomination and the general election victory went to Robert Fecht.
Shippy died in a Cheyenne hospice. He was survived by his wife of nearly ten years, Kelly J. Shippy; their daughter, Madison Shippy; his daughter from a previous marriage, Tonya Semmler of Littleton, Colorado; his parents, from Winner, South Dakota; his siblings, Kyle Shippy and Shirley Shelbourn, both of Colome, South Dakota, and Wayne Shippy, Beverly Traver, and Keith Shippy, all of Tempe, Arizona, and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Lonnie Shippy.
Services were held on June 13, 2007, at Frontier Park. Cremation was at Cheyenne Memorial Gardens.
Shippy was the fourth former Cheyenne lawmaker to have died within two months. Republican Joseph D. Selby and Democrat Edwin H. Whitehead, both of Cheyenne, died on April 20 and May 20, respectively. Former Republican Representative Robert Schliske, who served from 1971–1975, died on June 21. Republican U.S. Senator Craig Thomas of Casper died on June 4. And in September, former Republican state legislator Dean T. Prosser, a leader in environmental legislation from 1971–1983, died in Rhode Island, where he had retired.