Edward S Weppner

Surrounded by family, Ed Weppner died peacefully at Davis Hospice Center on June 9, 2026. As a lifelong resident, Ed was heavily involved in Cheyenne, Laramie County and the State of Wyoming.

Ed was born February 20, 1941 to Albert and Virginia Weppner in Cheyenne. He graduated from St Mary’s High School and later attended the University of Wyoming where he majored in engineering. While at UW, he met and married Mary Caldwell. After a couple summer jobs working for the Army Corps of Engineers he changed his major to agriculture.

Ed and his wife Mary, along with her sister and brother-in-law, spent a lifetime running the family ranch. Like most ranch families this included the typical cycle of a Wyoming cattle ranch, winter feeding, calving, fixing fence, moving cattle, irrigating, haying, weaning, etc. Ed started out as a member of the ‘crew’ working into the day-to-day management alongside his mother-in-law Elizabeth Caldwell, his wife, and sister-in-law Beth McNiff at the D.R. Whitaker Ranch which was established by Mary and Beth’s grandfather, Dugald R. Whitaker in 1895.

Ed was a long-time member of the Laramie County Stock Growers and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. At the WSGA, he went from being a member to being an officer, later becoming the President. In later years, he participated in lobbying efforts for the association. He enjoyed attending the state meetings for as long as he was able.

Involvement with state and local organizations also included the Wyoming Livestock Board, Laramie County Weed and Pest, Laramie County Fire District #2 as a volunteer firefighter and a board member, Laramie County Fair, Laramie County Civil Defense, Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, Military Affairs Committee, USS Cheyenne Committee, as well as Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Ed was a lifelong Cheyenne Frontier Days volunteer. He started out working with the Parade Committee as a teenager, and as time went by he was made a parade marshal. Then he joined the racing committee (later Contract Acts), assisting with the chuckwagon racing and the quarter horse racing, where he became the track steward for the quarter horse race meet. Ed was selected to serve as the Contract Acts Chairman on the General Committee from 1984-1986. In 1985, in an attempt to broaden the customer base, he hired the first rock band to open CFD. Later he became the night arena director starting the chuck wagon races, and then a PRCA approved timer for the rough stock events. He was also involved in the CFD Governors Invitational Art show from its inception, a member and officer in the Heels organization, a member of the wagon doctors, and various other activities.

Ed and Mary were true partners in their family, business, and community life. These activities resulted in many lifelong friendships particularly including Stock Growers and Frontier Days. Season tickets for both UW football and basketball kept them entertained during the fall and winter for many years. They particularly enjoyed being part of a local motorcycle group, touring most of the lower 48 states along with parts of Canada. Ed also enjoyed fishing and hunting with his father and brother in his youth. In later years, he traveled to South Dakota to fish and hunt with a group from Cheyenne and would reciprocate by hosting the South Dakota folks who came down to hunt on the ranch.

His wife Mary Weppner and brother Jim Weppner preceded him in death. He will be missed by his children, Rob Weppner, Ginny Weppner, Tricia Tarantola, son in law Chris Tarantola, sister Ann Blades and sister-in-law Linda Weppner. His two grandchildren Izzy and Gabbi Tarantola lovingly called him Boppa. “Uncle Ed” was a big influence on his nieces and nephews Niffy ‘McNiff’ Bube (husband Chris and their son Jack), John McNiff, Wann McNiff, Jodi ‘Weppner’ Davis (husband Eric and children Lance and Taryn), Tracy ‘Weppner’ Wilson (husband Cody and children Dakota and Chyann) and Matt Jagow.

Donations in his memory to CFD Memorial Foundation (https://cfdmemorialfoundat.wixsite.com/mysite/donate) or St. Joseph's Children's Home in Torrington (https://stjoseph-wy.org/) are welcome.

The Funeral service will be at St. Mary's Cathedral on Monday, June 22nd at 10:30 a.m.  A livestream will be provided and can be found on