CHEYENNE - One day during the 1979 legislative session, Nyla Murphy, a freshman Republican representative from Casper, broke her eyeglasses.

"I was looking for someone to fix them," Murphy said Monday. "Somebody said John Vinich can fix them." And he did. And they hit it off.

From then on Murphy, the Republican, and Vinich, the Democrat, had an excellent relationship even though House Republicans and House Democrats during that era were not always even talking to each other.

Vinich, she said, sponsored a lot of bills, all people-oriented and progressive.

"Often, like me, he got nowhere," said Murphy, now practicing law in Laramie.

"Anything he did was geared toward the ordinary guy," she added.

Vinich, 54, who died early Saturday, was remembered Monday as a fiery populist who steadfastly supported American Indians and the less fortunate during 24 years of public service representing Fremont County.

He had been practicing law in Fremont County primarily as an advocate for Wind River Indian Reservation Indians and as a tribal prosecutor.

He was pronounced dead at 1:55 a.m. Saturday at Lander Valley Medical Center, where he had been taken by ambulance from his family's apartment in Hudson, which is located in the same building as the Union Bar which he and his family owned.

Fremont County Coroner Ed McAuslan of Riverton said an autopsy was scheduled for Monday evening to determine the cause of Vinich's death. McAuslan said he was unaware of any medical condition that Vinich was suffering from. A preliminary report should be available today, he said.

In 1974 when he was 22 years old, Vinich was the youngest person to be elected to the Legislature. He served eight years in the House and 16 in the Senate.

Vinich ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate and for governor.

In 1988 he lost to Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop by only 1,300 votes. The following year he lost to Craig Thomas in a special election for Congress when then-U.S. Rep. Dick Cheney was named secretary of defense.

Vinich and Thomas, now a U.S. senator, served together in the Legislature.

"John has been an interesting friend through the years," Thomas said. "We had quite different opinions on political and legislative issues, but he has always been a friendly guy. We were able to disagree without being disagreeable."

"John brought a lot of different ideas to the Wyoming Legislature," Thomas added. "John and his family have been very giving folks for their community and the state."

In 1998, Vinich challenged Republican incumbent Gov. Jim Geringer but lost by about 16 percentage points.

"He was probably the most eloquent and powerful speaker all the time I was in the Legislature," said former Sen. Frank Prevedel, a Rock Springs Democrat who served 14 years in the Legislature. He said Vinich also watched out for his constituents in Fremont County, whether it was trying to move the state fire marshal's office to Riverton or to obtain benefits for Indians.

"I used to say to him, 'Hell, I think I'll move to Fremont County to see what you can do for me,'" Prevedel said.

Vinich, he said, "had extreme convictions outside of mainstream politics in Wyoming because they were fairly liberal Democratic issues. It mattered not. He introduced them and fought for them."

Former State Sen. Win Hickey, a Cheyenne Democrat, said Vinich was very intelligent but other legislators sometimes were put off by his style. He wore his hair differently than other men and sported suspenders as kind of a trademark.

"He will be sorely missed," Hickey said, "because in his own way he had a lot to contribute."

Geringer, who also served with Vinich in the Legislature, said the Democrat "had a little bit of in-your-face approach."

"If you asked John why he was late to a meeting, he always said, 'I was at a prayer breakfast.'"

He added that Vinich "could be pretty cantankerous at times, but he still thought of it as doing the public good. He kind of always favored the underdog, too."

Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Vinich was "fearless" and stood up and fought for ordinary people on game and fish, environmental and social issues. He had the type of charm that allowed him to say things without making people angry, he added.

"He was, I thought, enormously principled," Freudenthal said.

A former colleague, Sen. Bob Peck, R-Riverton, said Vinich was "politically invincible in Fremont County for 24 years. Republicans and Democrats both liked him."

He also was one of the "giants in the Democratic Party for more than 20 years," he said.

"He scared the pants off Malcolm Wallop," Peck added.

Wyoming State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Gierau said Vinich was a "champion of Wyoming, who gave selflessly to serve the public good."

"His death is a loss for our state. And at this difficult time, the Vinich family is in our thoughts and prayers," he added.

A full obituary will be published later. Hudson Funeral Home in Lander is in charge of arrangements.

Capital bureau reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or joan.barron@casperstartribune.net.