CLARENE LAW
1933-2022
Self-made Business Mogul, Community Leader, Former Legislator
Clarene Law cruising around Jackson in her 1976 Cadillac.
“The only way you do things, you don’t do things alone. There is no such word as just me - I. It is all of us. It’d take everybody in my life to make what I am today.”
Clarene Law was known equally for her success in business, kindness, and service towards others.
Listen to Clarene's Story.
Clarene Law was a force in Wyoming’s business and political community for more than 50 years. She grew up in a blue-collar family and was known in Wyoming as the “matriarch of the tourism industry” due to her successful hotel and business endeavors. Clarene did not think of herself this way, however. In her mind, her greatest success was her network of relationships with others; she said it was support from this network that helped her achieve her life goals. In addition to her business savvy, Clarene was equally known for her kindness and compassion, as well as for her roles in public service.
She served 14 years in Wyoming’s House of Representatives where she was named chairwoman of the Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee and the Travel, Recreation and Wildlife Committee. She served on numerous boards and commissions over the years, earning accolades for her service, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wyoming Business Report, the Wyoming Women of Influence Award, the Wyoming Business Person of the Year, and the Jackson Hole Citizen of the Year. She was inducted into the Wyoming Business Hall of Fame in 2013.
Clarene could be found most days working at the Antler Inn, her flagship motel, which she purchased in 1962. Why did she go to work everyday? “Because it needed to be done.”
Clarene’s images and interview for this project were recorded in 2018.
Clarene working at her flagship motel, The Antler Inn, in Jackson, Wyoming.
“I had the ability, if I had any ability, of bringing people together so that we could build - not by pushing others down, but by standing on each others’ shoulders.”
Most days you'd find Clarene at the Antler Motel.
“You have to believe in yourself, and you have to be willing to take the advice of others, and you have to find an awfully good banker.”
Businesswoman and community icon, Clarene Law.
