CODY — The funeral service for longtime U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson was held in Cody Monday morning, giving the community the opportunity to mourn his death.
Simpson, a lifelong advocate for the state of Wyoming, died a few weeks ago at the age of 93.
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On Monday, friends and family from all around the country gathered to pay their respects. The service was held in the Episcopal Church, but there were numerous overflow sites where people could watch the video stream of the service.
"All of you who played a role large and small, I thank you and my family thanks you," said one of Simpson's sons, Bill Simpson. "There were those who loved him and frankly, there were those that didn't. That is life, and that is certainly politics."
There were plenty of well-known faces paying their respects. Country Western star Clint Black sang during the service in Simpson's honor and former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan was also in attendance.
"People came from all over Wyoming," Sullivan said. "People came from elsewhere in the country. It's been a week-long effort, and I don't think it'll ever be replicated again in Wyoming."
Sullivan said he views Simpson as both a friend and a mentor.
"He was a man unique as a politician and as a human being," Sullivan said.
While Simpson made a lasting impact in Congress, it's that "human being" part that many Cody residents remember. Simpson served as a longtime volunteer firefighter for the Park County fire district, which rang a bell in his honor Monday.
Simpson is perhaps best known for his decades of work at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West — serving as a board member since 1978 and helping transform the museum into what it is today.
"He's been a fixture here in the Cody community," said Buffalo Bill Center CEO Rebecca West. "He saw us from a very good museum to making us the best museum of the American West."
And that impact was apparent Monday afternoon, with thousands crowding into the center for Simpson's memorial service following a procession from the church to the museum.
"He was invaluable as a politician that we don't see anymore," West said.
A day unlike any other — honoring a man that was truly one of a kind.
"It was everybody," Sullivan said. "It was everybody in Cody and everybody around the state."
