CHEYENNE – Most people knew Gus Fleischli as a local businessman, a former state legislator and a war veteran who helped bring his fellow World War II veterans to our nation’s capital to see “their memorial.”
Probably few people knew that he was also a cheerleader.
But that makes sense to those who said his upbeat attitude and cheerful disposition lit up a room whenever he walked in. After a lifetime of service to local organizations, including Cheyenne Frontier Days, Fleischli died Sunday. He was 98.
Fleischli was born in Rawlins in December 1925, a native of Wyoming. He graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1942.
Fleischli was proud of his country. He joined the Army Air Corps at age 17 and flew 32 missions over Germany in B-17 bombers. He began his education at the University of Wyoming but was unable to complete it due to family commitments and service in World War II.
“It is fitting that Gus passed away during Cheyenne Frontier Days,” his obituary reads. Fleischli served on the CFD committee twice and was responsible for getting the first night shows started.
He lived a “life full of friends, Frontier Days and politics,” said his daughter, Ketura “Kit” Fleischli-Booth, 72.
An ‘incredible’ entrepreneur
When he returned to Wyoming after the war, he purchased the Husky Truck Stop in western Cheyenne and turned it into Fleischli Oil Co., which he ran for 42 years.
Fleischli-Booth said her father was an incredible entrepreneur. He started with a half ownership of Husky Gas Station, but it wasn’t long before he became a truck stop and opened similar businesses in Laramie and Casper. He also built his oil distribution business and secured a 10-year lease with Barrick Gold Mines.
“He had given the longest-term contract ever in this kind of business,” Fleischli-Booth said. “And that was unheard of at the time.”
All of his employees “were very excited about him,” she said, and many of them plan to attend his funeral next week.
She said her father was also passionate about public service. Fleischli was heavily involved in the Cheyenne community through his volunteer roles, community groups, businesses and partnerships.
Fleischli was also well known in the Cheyenne Frontier Days community. He was a volunteer at CFD, serving in most capacities up to the top position of general chairman. His name is in the CFD Hall of Fame, Class of 2002.
He was involved in many community groups, including Cheyenne LEADS, the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, the Wyoming Highway Commission, the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Foundation and the University of Wyoming.
Fleischli received an honorary doctorate of laws from UW in 2011 for his commitment to the UW Business School, and an award for his efforts to fly 650 veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II Memorial. He chaired the Honor Flight from 2007-12.
Leaving a legacy
Of all he has done for the community, Gus Fleischli said his proudest legacy was organizing Honor Flights in Colorado and Wyoming for World War II veterans. Honor Flight is a nonprofit organization that flies veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War to Washington, D.C.
Former Wyoming State Auditor Rita Meyer, a Cheyenne resident and friend of Fleischli, said she helped him get the money he needed to charter a plane for the Honor Flight. She said he was always a cheerful and upbeat person.
“I’ll tell you, if there wasn’t a party, Gus would throw one,” Meyer said. “That’s who he was. He was such a sociable person that people gravitated toward him because he was always funny, he always had a story to tell, and he was always so caring and generous to others. … He was just a magnet for people.”
Both Meyer and former Wyoming Veterans Commission director Larry Barrtelbort, who also helped with Honor Flight, agreed to speak at Fleischli’s funeral service.
In 2012, Fleischli received the Wyoming Tribune Eagle Community Spirit Award, and in 2015, the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce named Fleischli to its Circle of Champions. Dale Steenbergen, president and CEO of the Chamber, said he didn’t really get to know Fleischli until he joined the circle.
“The Circle of Champions is something we do to recognize someone who has dedicated their entire life to Cheyenne,” Steenbergen said. “… This is the highest recognition we can give someone from the community, and he’s such a great guy. … He was a shining example of what servant leadership is for the community.”
‘Larger than life’
Besides his great social impact, Fleischli was also known for his cheerful, humorous personality.
Steenbergen said Fleischli always had a smile on his face and was always positive.
“The thing I’ll always remember about him is that he really had nothing to lose,” Steenbergen said. “He was always concerned about the Chamber of Commerce taking care of his community and making sure that 100 years from now the community would be vibrant and moving forward. … He was always supportive, always forward-thinking.”
Fleischli-Booth and Fleischli’s two other children, Kirk, 74, and Kris, 67, both shared fond memories of their father. Fleischli-Booth and Kirk recalled spending time with their father outdoors. Fleischli-Booth has a photo of her and her father standing at Jackson Lake, taken by her husband, Terry Booth.
She said her favorite moments were hiking with her dad. The morning that photo was taken, she joined her dad for an early morning hike around the lake with her Great Pyrenees, Kiowa.
Kirk Fleischli said his favorite memory of his father was their hunting and fishing trips together in Nebraska. “It was just always one of those places where we really bonded and had a good time.”
Kris Fleischli, the youngest of the three, had an unusual story to tell, however. When he was only 19 years old, his father sent him to California in a semi to pick up a boat he had purchased. Kris said he had never driven a semi before.
He was stopped by a police officer on the highway for bypassing a border crossing, but he did not have the correct driver’s license or paperwork to drive a truck.
“I had nothing,” Kris said.
Luckily, the wife of his family’s boat mechanic worked for the Governor of Idaho. With a quick phone call, Kris was fired with a warning.
“They all knew Gus,” said Kris’s partner, Kim.
Booth said there was one thing about Fleischli that even his own children didn’t know until recently.
“He was a cheerleader,” Booth said.
Through digging through old photos and paraphernalia, Fleischli’s surviving children discovered that their father had been on the cheerleading team in high school. Fleischli-Booth said her father never told them.
Honoring his memory
Governor Mark Gordon has ordered the Wyoming state flag to be flown at half-staff at the Capitol in Cheyenne and in Laramie County from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday, July 31, in honor of Fleischli, who represented Laramie County in the Wyoming Senate from 1953-55 and served three terms in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1973-77.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. that day at Calvary Chapel. A reception will follow in the ballroom of the Little America Hotel and Resort from 2 to 5 p.m.
