Dave Freudenthal took office as Wyoming's 31st governor on Jan. 6, 2003. Gov. Freudenthal was born in Thermopolis in 1950, the seventh of eight children. He grew up on the family farm north of town. Farm life taught him to fix things by himself and to reuse every scrap of wood. To help pay for college, he worked construction jobs, including welding tanks. After graduating from Amherst College in 1973,he returned to Wyoming. While working for the state first as an economist for the Wyoming Department of Economic Planning and Development and then as the state planning coordinator, Freudenthal simultaneously earned a law degree from the University of Wyoming. He practiced law in Cheyenne from 1980 until he was appointed United States Attorney for Wyoming in 1994. Dave and his wife Nancy have four children: Don, Hillary, Bret and Katie. He enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, fishing and restoring sheep wagons, Airstream trailers and antique furniture.
Wyoming governor Dave Freudenthal greets delegates during a luncheon Tuesday afternoon in downtown Denver. Photo by DAN CEPEDA, Star-Tribune.
Changes could come to the Green River landfill, seen in this 2007 file photo, if local solid waste managers decide to move to a regional landfill system in southwest Wyoming. (Jeff Gearino/Star-Tribune file)
Roughnecks work on an EnCana natural gas well near Moneta earlier this month. Low prices for natural gas have significantly slowed the industry in Wyoming. (Tim Kupsick/Star-Tribune)
The Bitter Creek meanders through downtown Rock Springs during the summer of 2007 in this file photo. Game and Fish biologists found an array of fish species in the creek during a fish trapping project this spring. (Jeff Gearino/Star-Tribune)
Gary Hartman, former state district judge who's now an adviser to Gov. Dave Freudenthal, is heading up a state workplace safety task force. As a young adult, Hartman worked in the oil field. (Kerry Huller/Star-Tribune)
Wyoming Whiskey, the first legal distillery in the state of Wyoming, produced this first barrel of bourbon in July. The founders and employees, as well as Gov. Dave Freudenthal, signed the barrel. (Kerry Huller/Star-Tribune)
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