Ira Carl Ernst of Casper, Wyoming, was called to his heavenly home by His Savior on the evening of his 66th birthday after a short illness.
Ira was born on November 23, 1955 to Eddie Ray and Glenna Josephine (Christensen) Ernst in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1961 the family moved to Hazelton, Idaho, where Ira learned how to hunt, fish, and work on the family farm. After 10 years in Idaho, the family relocated to Torrington, Wyoming in 1971. Ira graduated from Torrington high school in 1974.
His entrepreneurial spirit has carried him through many careers over the years. Uranium mining, general contracting, sludge logging, tanker and suction truck driving, farming, bison rearing, and car sales.
Ira recently took up a new profession and temporarily moved to Salt Lake City to attend Barber College. After graduating, he opened his own shop, Ye Old Time Barber Shop in Casper.
He was a devoted and loving husband to his wife Sandy (Neumann) Goodman, whom he married on May 5, 1984 in Casper. They were introduced by a mutual friend in Torrington, where he played bass guitar in the rock and roll band High Country.
In addition to music, hunting, fishing, and travel, Ira’s interests extended to gold mining on the South Pass. He has been a highly skilled and successful hunter, angler and athlete all his life. His adventures took him through the Bighorn Mountains, the Sunlight Basin, the Jackson / Dubois area, the Flaming Gorge and the Wyoming prairies, where he caught moose, deer and antelopes and caught exceptional fish. His thirst for adventure and the search for a challenging hunt even led him to Alaska, where he shot a bear.
Ira later returned to Alaska with Sandy to explore the Kenai Peninsula and fish for halibut, stonefish, and salmon in Homer, Alaska. Her adventure took her as far as Fairbanks and the North Pole in Alaska. He and Sandy also visited Canada to try some more fishing and to stay on Vancouver Island.
Ira died of his parents and several uncles and aunts.
Ira is very much missed by his 37-year-old wife, Sandy, of Casper, Wyoming; Stepson Donnie (Penny) Goodman of Sheridan, Wyoming; his three grandchildren: Nichole (Jesse) Vaccaro of Shalimar, Florida, Ethan (Susan) Goodman of Hobart, Indiana, and Joseph (Karen) Goodman of Littlefield, Arizona; his three great-grandchildren: Miranda Vaccaro, Evan and Eleanor Goodman; his three sisters: Tony Ray from Worland, Wyoming, Tracy (Eric) Halvorson from Springfield, Missouri, and Cindy Vigil from Cody, Wyoming; his nieces and nephews, Andrea (Toby) Riddle from Billings, Montana, Melissa Ray of Worland, Wyoming, David (Amber) Ray of Worland, Wyoming, Elizabeth Huggins from Springfield, Missouri, Keith (Matracia) Vigil of Gillette, Wyoming and Lauren Vigil of Billings, Montana.
If you want to honor his memory, please remember him when you see the world’s wildlife, fish, or enjoy a good cigar.
Published by Bustard & Jacoby Funerals, Cremations, Monuments, Receptions on December 1, 2021.
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