Virginia (Ginny) M. Macey

On October 9th, 2024, the world lost, and Heaven gained, a generous and loving mother, grandmother, friend, and businesswoman. Virginia ‘Ginny’ Macey fought her last battle with every bit of SISU she had left. Before she passed, her children and grandchildren shared their love and hopes for their futures and her daughter, Layne, was by her side to the very last. Cheyenne will mourn her loss but she will be remembered by many as one of our city’s most iconic legends.

Born in Chicago, Illinois on April 11, 1934, Ginny was the third child of Scandinavian parents, Ina Lund and Murton Moen. As a child, she lived with her grandma Hilma Turri-Lund on the family farm in the upper peninsula of Michigan, speaking only Finnish. When she was just four years old, Ginny was pushed off a third story balcony of a tenement building in Chicago, a tree’s branches, and the hand of God, breaking her fall. She would spend six months recovering in a hospital. Though Ginny faced overwhelming challenges throughout her life she chose to overcome them with an unwavering spirit of optimism, sharing it with everyone she met, and encouraging them to find the good in everything and everyone.*

In high school, she was a cheerleader and performed extraordinary acrobatics at the local Rialto Hall. After graduation in 1952, Ginny and her two best friends, Norma and Nancy, moved to Milwaukee and rented an apartment together. Ginny’s first job in Milwaukee was as a bubbly car hop and then as a general office assistant at the Joe Ott Company. Norma made more money at Lippman Manufacturing, so she helped Ginny get hired there as a ‘Girl Friday’. In the summer of 1953, Ginny bought a bus ticket to Washington D.C. to enjoy the visual and written history of our nation. While she was there she bumped into the famous Audie Murphy at The Waldorf Astoria and witnessed a flurry of fireworks over The White House on July 4th! 

When she returned to Milwaukee, she took piano lessons in the city’s Polish section, joined literary book clubs, went out on the town with friends, and attended theater performances. As fate would have it, Ginny would meet her future husband after he was jilted by one of her new roommates. It turned out to be the best awkward moment of David’s life! Six weeks later, they were married at St. John’s Cathedral in Milwaukee, a marriage that would last over fifty-four years.

In 1958, David was hired by The Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington where Ginny worked for B.L. Pacheco and Tide Water Oil Company as a bookkeeper, had their first daughter, Laura, in November that year and their second daughter, Layne, in November 1961. In 1963 The Boeing Company assigned David to the Minuteman Missile Program where he crisscrossed the country, beginning in Butler, MO, then Huntsville, AL, Minot, ND, Sedalia MO, Rapid City, SD, and Great Falls, MT. Ginny taught Laura and Layne to embrace each new move as an adventure with exciting new possibilities, even modeling this positive outlook by applying for admission to the University of Great Falls. In April 1970, while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in history, Ginny delivered their third child, Daniel, and then graduated Magna Cum Laude in December 1971.

Finally, in 1973, the family’s last move with The Boeing Company would take them to Cheyenne, Wyoming where two feet of snow were on the ground! Although it was cold and windy, the warm, welcoming community of Cheyenne melted their hearts and inspired Ginny and David to set down roots and become business owners. They had found their forever home!

Ginny opened her beloved store, The EMPORIUM, and provided Cheyenne with diverse clothing trends, souvenirs, hats, t-shirts, and accessories right up until her passing. She was an unconventional business owner whose bright smile, engaging blue eyes, and friendly personality made her appear more interested in building relationships than a bottom line.

In addition to her three children, Ginny raised generations of faux daughters and sons at her store. The first two employees, Patty Cavanaugh and Mary Tuttle, taught her the art of cussing. Her first faux son, Marc Masor, learned the secrets to health while eating lunches in the back room. And her longest employee, Mellinda Graham, would become a cherished friend and supporter for more than thirty-five years. Ginny was a significant part of Cheyenne for fifty-one years and an iconic draw to the downtown area. She welcomed people from every culture, inspiring them to return to The EMPORIUM and her authentic, western charm for decades.

There was more than her store to keep her busy, however. Ginny was a passionate bridge player, earning Bronze Life Master in 2001 and Silver Life Master in 2012 and running the Wyoming Wild West Club for decades in Cheyenne. She was The Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra’s number one fan and the longest member of the Cheyenne Dance Club where she and husband David bopped to the sounds of live Big Bands. Ginny also created a Shakespeare book club and Finnish study group, loved Sundays with the welcoming congregation of North Christian Church as well as scouring newspapers for new knowledge, reading non-fiction, and traveling. With her husband and family in tow, Ginny traveled to diverse countries including Hungary, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, China, Peru, and her ancestral homelands of Finland, Norway, and Sweden. She was, in her own words, “a lifelong student and conservative realist”.

Ginny is survived by her three children; Laura Lee Macey-Voss (Mark) of Buford, WY, Layne Lillian Macey-Cerrone (Chris) of Colorado Springs, CO, and Daniel Dell Macey (Nita Nanez) of Cheyenne, WY., six grandchildren; Colter Voss, Bridger Voss, Tyler Petersen, Alex Petersen, Renee Macey-Nelson, and Kelsey Macey, two great-grandchildren; Aria and Henry Nelson, and four half-siblings; Ronald Lund, Franklin Moen, Marjorie Moen, and Mona Moen, as well as many more cousins and friends.

After Ginny was welcomed to Heaven by the love of her life, her husband David, brothers Richard “Dick” and Raymond “Nibbs”, Grandmother Hilma, and others, our family wouldn’t be surprised if she asked God for one last prayer to be answered, “Please, Lord, put my vote for Trump in the ballot box.”

In honor of Ginny*…be Ginny; Be kind. Love unconditionally. Listen attentively. See the good in everyone. Find happiness where you are. Ginny made happiness look easy because she fought for it…every day.

Memorial Services will be held on Saturday, November 30th, 2024, at 1:00 p.m., in the CrossBridge Alliance Church, 3501 Forest Drive, Cheyenne, WY. A celebration reception to follow at Lion’s Park.

DONATIONS can be made to the following: ReaganFoundation.org, Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, North Christian Church, St. Mary’s School Foundation, OneTreePlanted.org, American Lung Association.org