CODY — Alan Kooi Simpson, 93, a legendary political force in Wyoming and Washington, died Friday morning, according to a statement by his family.

Simpson was surrounded by family and friends at the Spirit Mountain Hospice Center in Cody after suffering complications from a broken hip in December.

Simpson served as a U.S. senator for Wyoming from 1979-1997, including as Senate Majority Whip from 1985-1987. Before that, Simpson represented Park County in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1965–1977. Beloved by colleagues and constituents for his plain-spoken candor, irrepressible sense of humor and ability to forge bipartisan alliances, Simpson remained active in civic life after leaving the Senate. 

“He was an uncommonly generous man,” said Pete Simpson, 94, Al Simpson’s older brother. “And I mean generous in an absolutely unconditional way. Giving of his time, giving of his energy — and he did it in politics and he did it in the family, forever.” 

The elder Simpson said he could see leadership traits in his younger brother as far back as their grade school days and admired his self-assurance in winning a Senate seat.

“I thought, ‘Where did he get that confidence?’ But in the long run, I really wasn’t surprised,” he said.

Alan Simpson served as cochair in 2010 on President Barack Obama’s bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, along with Erskine Bowles, who was previously head of the Small Business Administration and served as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff. The two remained friends, and Bowles visited Simpson in Cody earlier this year. 

“He was gifted in crossing party lines and building bipartisan consensus,” said Colin Simpson, one of Alan and Ann Simpson’s three adult children, who all reside in Cody. “He would relate to legislative colleagues in a manner that allowed them to feel valued and listened to without being taken advantage of.”

At the same time, Simpson “was formidable and people knew it,” Colin Simpson said. “But he was also vulnerable because he spoke from the heart.”

In 2022, Simpson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden. He advocated for campaign finance reform, comprehensive immigration reform, civic discourse and national debt reduction, as well as numerous local and national charitable causes.

“What I really admired was his independence of spirit,” Pete Simpson said. “Nothing put him in a position where he’d have to simply give up a principle or be less than who he was going to be.”

“He’s the most valuable, closest friend I’ve ever had, in the sense of being a source of inspiration, support, encouragement and love,” he said. “We were both lucky and blessed. Both of us.”

He was a beloved member of the local community. Al and Ann Simpson celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with their children, extended family and several hundred friends in June 2024 by hosting an ice cream social for the community in Cody’s downtown City Park.

“Dad and Pete have anchored the extended Simpson family for decades with the same love, humor, compassion and dedication their parents did before them. Dad was a mighty force and with Mom’s steady hand by his side we are so blessed and proud to have been along for the ride of a lifetime,” Colin Simpson said.

It didn’t take long for remembrances of Simpson to pour in, including from Wyoming’s current Washington delegation.

“Today, our state and country mourn the passing of our dear Senator Alan Kooi Simpson,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis said. “Al was larger than life and spent his entire life working on behalf of the state and people he loved. For 18 years in the U.S. Senate, 12 years in the Wyoming House of Representatives, and 28 years as an elder statesman — he worked to make Wyoming a better place for our citizens and an even greater place to work and raise a family. There was no stronger advocate for the needs, industries, and interests of Wyoming. During his Senate tenure, he was repeatedly elected by his colleagues to serve in leadership as the Republican Whip and was a close friend of both President Reagan and President Bush.”

Wyoming’s senior senator also released an early statement.

“Wyoming lost one of its most beloved and fiercest champions today. Al Simpson is known for his devoted lifelong service and unparalleled sense of humor. Whether serving in the United States Army, the Wyoming House of Representatives, or the United States Senate, his commitment and contributions made a consequential difference,” Sen. John Barrasso said. “While others ran from tough issues, Al embraced the opportunity to solve them. He cherished every fight to do what he thought was right. He was a mentor and a dear friend.”

The two senators spoke about Simpson on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Friday morning with a series of images of Simpson behind them, settling on one of both senators with Al and Ann at last summer’s Yellowstone Regional Airport dedication of the Hank Coe terminal. At that event Simpson had delivered a speech on his friend, the late state Sen. Hank Coe of Cody. Friday morning the two senators took turns to speak about Simpson.

Both mentioned his decades of service and his penchant for humor.

“For seven decades Wyoming was fortunate to learn from and listen to Al and Ann,” he said, adding “He always did what he believed was best for the country … He took his service seriously, but he never took himself too seriously.”

Lummis said he was larger than life, and at 6-foot-7-inches that was true literally as well. She said Al and Ann choosing to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary with hundreds of people in Cody’s City Park epitomized them.

“That was the Simpson way of doing things,” she said, adding “He truly was a proud son of Cody, Wyoming. Coming from an early pioneer family, he never forgot his ancestors and those who came before him.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, a longtime Illinois Democrat who worked with Simpson on the Simpson-Bowles Commission created in 2010 by President Barack Obama to address deficit reduction, also shared his memories of Simpson.

“I never had a better time and a more educational experience than to be on that commission,” Durbin said, noting that Simpson always had a joke ready. “In addition to his good humor and nice way about him, he was a wonderful person to work with, really bipartisan.”

Gov. Mark Gordon also spoke of his friendship with Simpson in a Friday morning statement, where he announced flags will be lowered to half staff until after the interment.

“Al Simpson was an amazing friend, an incredible statesman, a thoughtful courageous politician, and a wonderful human being who brought humor, wisdom, and razor-sharp insight to any situation. Wyoming has lost a true light,” Gordon said in a statement. “Al embodied the best of Wyoming — what America used to be. Throughout his life, Al was an independent thinker who wasn’t afraid to reach across the aisle (or, as Al would say, ‘grab folks in the pew behind him by the short hairs’) and work collaboratively to solve problems. He was never afraid to say what was on his mind, but he believed to his core that humor mixed with civility was best in politics and in life.”

Beyond Washington, Simpson was involved with a number of local institutions such as the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center — he had visited the internment camp in his youth — and joined what is now the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s board of trustees in 1968 and was instrumental in bringing the Winchester Collection to Cody and helping build the Center into the “Smithsonian of the West.” He served as chairman from 1992–2011, and continued as a trustee until 2024, when he reluctantly stepped down. He remained active in the affairs of his cherished museum. 

“It’s impossible to overstate the contributions Al Simpson made to the Center of the West, to the community of Cody and to Wyoming and the country,” said Rebecca West, the Center’s CEO and Executive Director.

“Few people have ever done as much for the Center of the West. He ranks alongside William F. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody as someone who has embodied the spirit of the American West and the essence of the town of Cody,” she said. 

Ann Simpson said Al loved the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and was dedicated to the museum, Cody, and his countless friends (some of whom he had not met yet), as well as colleagues in Wyoming and around the world. She expressed deep gratitude to all those who have reached out with love and concern for them both. 

“Cody is a giving back the love Al and I have shared with our wonderful town over the years.  We’re so grateful for the opportunity to spend these last years in Al’s hometown of Cody — we had always planned to return here,” she said.   

The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center features a new institute named for Simpson and a dear friend, former Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta, who met Simpson while he was a Boy Scout in Cody while Mineta was at the internment camp during World War II.

“Al has always been a mentor, supporter and inspiration to me throughout my tenure at the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation,” said Board Chair Shirley Ann Higuchi. “His constant support, advice and encouragement inspired me to take Heart Mountain to the highest possible level.”

“I believe him to be nothing less than one of the wisest, wittiest, best informed, most honest, most principled, most patriotic, most courageous, most farseeing, and most honorable men to grace our nation’s public life in the last half century,” said Douglas Nelson, vice chair of the Heart Mountain board.

A University of Wyoming alum, Simpson was also a big supporter of the institution.

“The University of Wyoming community joins Sen. Simpson’s family, the entire state and his legion of friends across the globe in mourning the loss of and paying tribute to Sen. Simpson. He was a proud alumnus of Wyoming’s university and contributed endlessly to our students, faculty and staff in building our programs, facilities and reputation,” UW President Ed Seidel said in a release. “He leaves an amazing legacy of statesmanship, humor, civility and accomplishment that will never be forgotten.”

As Lummis said Friday morning on the floor of the U.S. Senate, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to help the college and especially the law school.

UW bestowed its highest honor, a Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa, to Simpson in 1999. Other awards from UW included the Distinguished Alumni Award, 1985; the College of Arts and Sciences Exemplary Alum Award, 1993; the President’s Best Friend Award, 2002; and the College of Law Distinguished Alumni Award, 2004.

The Alan K. Simpson Center for Clinical and Experiential Learning, officially opened in 2024 as part of the UW College of Law expansion, and enhances hands-on legal education, supporting Simpson’s dedication to the field of law. The Alan K. Simpson Institute for Western Politics and Leadership at UW’s American Heritage Center preserves historical records of influential figures and supports research through programs such as the Alan K. Simpson Institute Fellowship on Western Political History. Al and Ann helped endow the Ann Simpson Artmobile, a mobile art outreach program with the UW Art Museum. Additionally, Al and Ann have been loyal supporters of Wyoming athletics through the Cowboy Joe Club.

(Editor's note: This story was updated Tuesday, March 18)