Longtime politician, lobbyist was strong advocate for county government
JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Bernard G. "Jerry" Michie was a witty, affable and smart politician and a crack lobbyist.
He also was a loving father to three children he raised as a single parent when their mother left, said Michie's daughter, Renee Bohl.
She said her father was one of the first men to get custody of their children in the 1960s. He was a devout Catholic and never remarried.
Michie was deputy county assessor, county treasurer and served two terms as a Democratic state representative, all from Carbon County.
In 1982 he became executive director of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association and served as national president of the National Association of County Executives.
After he retired in 1994, he moved to Encampment and later to Arizona, where his daughter, Renee, lives part time.
When his health failed, he said he wanted to return to Wyoming even though the altitude wasn't good for him, she said.
Michie died at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cheyenne on Feb. 19 at age 76.
His funeral wasn't held until last month because his daughter, Renee, was in Australia at the time of his death.
Michie's mentor was R.L. "Reno" Hakala, who was Carbon County assessor and later was appointed by Gov. Ed Herschler to be one of the three members of the old Wyoming Tax Commission, Michie's daughter said.
Michie graduated from Rawlins High School in 1950 and attended Montana State University on a football scholarship.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, Michie enlisted in the Navy, where he served two hitches.
He suffered the loss of one eye while serving on a destroyer. The ship was returning from a tour but hadn't yet reached San Diego when a guy hit him on the back, Michie's daughter said.
The ship had bunk beds attached by chains with hooks on the end. Michie fell into the hook and spent nearly a year in the naval hospital at San Diego.
He always said he lost the eye in the "Battle of San Diego."
"With that eye, you never told him to keep an eye on anything," his daughter said. "He would take it out and put it in your drink or in your seat."
Joe Evans, who succeeded Michie as director of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, said his predecessor liked working at the national level and was very involved in the passage of changes in the federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes program.
State Sen. Bill Vasey of Rawlins said Michie was an effective lobbyist for the county commissioners.
"He was really an intelligent guy. He could look at a bill and understand what it did," he said.
When he got out of the Navy, Michie was a "tough guy," Vasey said. At that time Rawlins was a tough place to be.
"Reno Hakala gathered him up and said, 'You know you can either hang around Front Street and get in trouble or you can use your mind,'" Vasey said.
That's when Michie went to work for county government.
Former Secretary of State Kathy Karpan, who grew up in Rawlins, said Michie was an effective, well-respected lobbyist because of his experience at the county level.
"He had the affability that we associate with a successful Irish political figure," Karpan said. "Every time you saw Jerry, he had a smile and very self-deprecating humor."
Michie is also survived by a son, Jerry Michie Jr., and a daughter, Geneva Michie, both of Cheyenne, and a brother, Dr. David F. Michie of Rawlins.
He was buried at the Rawlins cemetery.
Contact Joan Barron at joan.barron@trib.com or by phone at 307-632-1244.