After a two-year battle with brain cancer, Bobbi Barrasso, wife of Wyoming U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, died Wednesday night at her home in Casper.
Barrasso said he and his family will miss her dearly and appreciate the public’s support through this trying time.
“After a courageous battle with cancer, Bobbi is now at peace and at home with the Lord,” Barrasso said in a Thursday morning press release. “In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, Bobbi was a leader, fierce advocate for Wyoming and friend to everyone she met.”
‘Fierce Advocate’
Bobbi Barrasso, a Thermopolis native, was well-known throughout Wyoming for her acts of public service, working for U.S. Sens. Malcolm Wallop and Craig Thomas and State Treasuer Stan Smith. She also was active on various boards, including the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Natrona County, Raising Readers in Wyoming, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and Louisa Swain Foundation.
She founded Congressional Spouses for Suicide Prevention and Education, a group dedicated to raising awareness for suicide risks in Wyoming and across the United States. She was recognized for that work as the 2015 National Alliance on Mental Illness Wyoming Champion for Suicide Prevention.
Gov. Mark Gordon said Barrasso “has left an indelible legacy.”
Bobbi Barrasso also defeated breast cancer and was actively involved in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and Komen Wyoming events, which her husband routinely attended. She also was a founding member of the Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative.
She married John Barrasso in 2008 after they first met at a Republican convention in 1983.
Daughter Of Thermopolis
Fellow Wyoming U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis offered her condolences to Barrasso on Thursday.
“The people of Wyoming and her beloved hometown of Thermopolis will always count her among its greatest blessings,” Lummis said.
Lummis said she first met Bobbi Barrasso when the two were teenagers attending the University of Wyoming. What Lummis said she noticed about her then, which continued throughout her life, was her infectious smile and generous spirit.
“She had a fierce love for her family and her beloved Wyoming, both of which she gave to tirelessly her entire life,” Lummis said.
At UW, she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority where she served as the vice-president for moral advancement and later as sorority president, according to Bobbi Barrasso’s obituary. She was crowned UW Homecoming Queen her senior year and graduated with a degree in speech pathology.
She later returned to earn a law degree from the school.
It was then Wyoming congresswoman Harriet Hageman said she first met her.
“Bobbi was always warm to everyone, welcoming them with a big smile and a kind word,” Hageman said. “She served our state both in her career and alongside her husband.”
Bobbi Barrasso leaves behind one daughter and two children from her husband’s previous marriage.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 3 at Highland Park Community Church in Casper.
Arrangements are being handled by Bustard’s Funeral Home in Casper. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Bobbi Barrasso’s honor to the Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative and the Hospice of Central Wyoming.
John Barrasso had his own recent bout with health illness, hospitalized for an unexpected stomach obstruction.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
