[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S565-S566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING CLARENE LAW

 Ms. LUMMIS. Madam President, it is with a heavy heart that I 
rise today to share with you that Wyoming lost one of its finest 
residents on September 21. At the age of 89, God called up one of his 
most faithful servants, Clarene Law, up to heaven. I join with the rest 
of Wyoming in mourning this tremendous loss.
  While she was born in neighboring Idaho, Clarene's journey to Wyoming 
began in 1959 when her husband at the time was hired to be a guidance 
counselor at Jackson/Wilson High School, which brought the family to 
Jackson, WY. In the early 1960s, Jackson presumably looked a whole lot 
different than it looks today. Of course, Grand Teton National Park and 
Yellowstone were a short drive away, and the entire area is surrounded 
by so much natural beauty, but it was not the major tourist destination 
that it is today.
  Once settled in Jackson, Clarene took what may be considered her 
first step in the hospitality business by working as a bookkeeper and 
auditor at the Wort Hotel in Jackson. In 1962, while working at the 
Wort, she overheard a conversation about the owner of the Antler Motel 
telling another person they wanted to sell it. After hearing this 
conversation, Clarene chimed in to say that she was interested. Clarene 
and her husband got together, scrounged up their money, were able to 
receive assistance from both sets of parents to make the necessary down 
payment to become owners of the Antler Motel.
  The work at the Antler was tough, but it also gave her the chance to 
be a

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working mother and watch her kids while doing all the remaining tasks 
necessary for running a hotel. She worked the front desk, cleaned the 
sheets, made the beds, did the books, and eventually even pumped gas at 
the station they later added. Business was certainly picking up, and it 
allowed them to start expanding the Antler. They were able to purchase 
several nearby properties which were rolled into the Antler itself and 
a location that once was a series of different restaurants to what is 
known today as the Pearl Street Market.
  In 1973, Clarene remarried Creed Law who was a hard-working man who 
could do just about anything with his hands. Creed was also 
instrumental in the upkeep and expansion of the hotel operations. There 
were few things he couldn't fix and coincidentally put together. Case 
in point, they actually purchased what was the Settlers Best Western in 
Worland and took it apart only to put it back together in Jackson, some 
250 miles away.
  Clarene certainly knew what she was doing, and she was doing it 
extremely well. Over the years, they continued to expand, purchase new 
properties, update some of the old ones, and at the time of her 
passing, Clarene and Creed owned 6 lodges with 477 hotel units and 
employed numerous people to help manage and maintain them. One of the 
true special parts about that is that, over the nearly 60 years that 
Clarene was responsible for the hotels, you could regularly still find 
her sitting behind the front desk at the Antler, greeting people, and 
getting them situation and settled into their rooms.
  For anyone to have worked nearly 60 years setting up a major family 
business and helping to transform Jackson into the destination that it 
is today would be remarkable enough and incredibly noteworthy, it still 
does not even tell the full story of how Clarene impacted Wyoming.
  Having been recognized by so many in the community for her hard work 
and dedication to Jackson and seeing the town grow and develop, she was 
frequently asked to serve in numerous civic organizations. She was able 
to make time to serve as a board member for the Jackson Hole Chamber of 
Commerce and the Jackson Planning Commission. The list goes on. She was 
a founder and president of the Jackson Hole Resort Association, 
president of the Wyoming Lodging and Restaurant Association, director 
of the Jackson State Bank, a member of the school board, and still 
found a way to teach Sunday school. Much of this work led to her 
receiving the Big WYO award in 1987, which is an incredible honor put 
forth by the Wyoming Hospitality and Travel Coalition.
  The desire to work with her community and to find solutions to 
improve and make things better led to her decision to run for the 
Wyoming House of Representatives. Her neighbors agreed and voted her to 
be their State representative in house district 23, where she served 
the people of Teton County for seven 2-year terms from 1991-2005.
  During her time in the legislature, she became the chair of the house 
minerals, business, and economic development committee, which is quite 
fitting since she was responsible for so much growth in the tourism 
industry in Teton County. She was a strong supporter of the Cultural 
Trust, supported learning centers and access to healthcare, especially 
working for a Medicaid match for traumatic brain injuries for adults. 
She was also one that had a way about her that seemed to ease the 
tension in the room. Her collegial way amongst her fellow 
representatives was such that she was able to bring people together and 
find something that they can agree on. Having served in the State 
legislature with former Senator Mike Enzi, maybe she was familiar with 
his 80/20 tool, which emphasizes focusing on 80 percent of an issue 
people can agree on and leaving out or finding another way to work on 
the 20 percent which typically is the part which many tend to disagree 
on. Regardless, she had a very successful second career for herself and 
influenced so many by serving Wyoming in the State house.
  Before her passing, Clarene wrote a memoir about her life. It is 
titled, ``And I Had Fun! The Life and Legacy of Clarene Law.'' That is 
a perfectly fitting title as that is how she ended many of her letters. 
After having known her for as long as I have, I am sure that, yes, she 
had fun.
  Clarene was a legend, truly one of a kind. She was the best of the 
best. She was kind, but firm, smart and generous, and devoted to 
serving her Teton County community. Her family and husband Creed were 
her greatest joy. Above all else, she was a woman of great faith. 
Clarene was the type of leader and person we should all aspire to be. 
She was a dear friend and a woman I admired greatly. I will miss 
everything about her, but her legacy lives across her beloved State of 
Wyoming.

                          ____________________