• Hemmert and Sutter join Hall of Fame. 

The Afton Heritage Hall of Fame, located in the Afton Civic Center inducted two people during a July ceremony.

They included George Howard Hemmert, 1897-1961 and Charles “Chuck” Frederick Sutter, 1933-2021.

See the following summaries as presented in a Hall of Fame program.

George Howard Hemmert

George Howard Hemmert, the eldest of eight children, was born on October 25, 1897, to Hans George Hemmert and Mary Aldine Wright in Thayne, Wyoming. As a young man, Howard worked on the family farm and in his father’s shop where he acquired the crafts of blacksmithing, carpentering, and coopering which had been passed down through multiple generations of Danish ancestry.

Howard’s formal education was limited to the eight grades taught in a single room schoolhouse in Thayne. When he turned 16 years of age, his father invited him to strike out on his own. He began working as a teamster, hauling freight by horse team and wagon from Montpelier, Idaho over the Crow Creek drainage into Star Valley, Wyoming.

He courted Estella Heap and in 1922 they were married. In 1958, their marriage was solemnized in the Idaho Falls Latter-day Saint Temple. In 1924, they moved to Freedom where Howard, backed by his brother-in-law, G.A. Newswander, ran a farm implement, blacksmith, and hardware enterprise. Howard branched out, adding custom combining and an ill-fated silver fox venture to his résumé.

In 1938, the small family which now included two young daughters, Donna and Erma, moved to Afton. A son, Wynn, was born in 1943.

Howard, now partnered with Ernest Brog, opened Brog and Hemmert Hardware. In 1948, the business relocated to a new, large building on the east side of Main Street, one of the largest commercial buildings in Star Valley. This venture grew to include International Harvester trucks and farm implements, building materials, hardware, housewares, sporting goods, painting materials, home appliances, field sprinkler irrigation systems, and a full-sized equipment repair and service shop.

Howard was competitive by nature, enthusiastically participating in and organizing contests ranging from checkers matches and tossing horse shoes to breakneck cutter race competitions and thoroughbred quarter horse racing. In 1932, he was a member of the Star Valley Select Baseball Team. He was an avid fisherman and big game hunter.

Howard became a major force in business enterprise and betterment of the Town of Afton. His presence, management skills, business acumen, energy, integrity, and common sense could not be ignored. He became involved in virtually every aspect of Afton’s community life, including

economic development, community improvement, politics, service organizations, and social functions. For nearly 25 years, he freely donated his time and resources to meaningful activities and had a reputation for “getting things done.”

Regarding civic activity, Howard held various leadership positions in the Afton Lions Club, the Afton Civic Service Club, the Afton Businessmen’s Association, and the Star Valley Chamber of Commerce. He promoted and oversaw the Red Cross War Fund Drive and the sale of WWII War Bonds. He served as chairman of the Star Valley District Finance Committee for the Boy Scouts of America.

In 1944, Howard oversaw fund-raising and pouring of concrete sidewalks along Afton’s Main Street. In 1949, he was a member of a three-man committee including Dr. O. L. Treloar and Kenneth Olsen, who oversaw the paving of Afton’s streets.

In 1945, the Star Valley Chamber of Commerce asked Howard to chair a committee charged with developing an enduring memorial honoring veterans of WWII. This eventually culminated with the construction of The Veterans Memorial Building in Afton which to this day benefits the community.

Howard had a knack for Dutch oven cooking and served as “Chief Chef ” for several large Dutch oven feasts and activities hosted by community service organizations at Allred Flat Campground.

In 1949, he pledged equipment used to develop the grassy playground adjacent to the elementary school in Afton. In 1950, Howard assisted with the development of the high school athletic field and personally plowed the entire plot.

Toward the end of his life, Howard faithfully served as a member of the Sunday School Superintendency in the Afton First Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Howard passed away from respiratory failure at the age of sixty-four on December 29, 1961.

To this day, Howard’s influence has endured, leaving an indelible legacy.

Charles “Chuck” Frederick Sutter

Charles “Chuck” Frederick Sutter was born in 1933 to Charles William and Margaret Louise Ball in Salem, Ohio. He attended school in Utah, California, and Washington while growing up, as his father was a Civil Engineer. Chuck served during the Korean War in the Air Force. After the service, Chuck worked at Rocketdyne, where he assisted in building the rocket boosters that eventually made it possible to propel the Apollo off of the moon. Graduating from a cooking and baking class, he made Thanksgiving dinner from then on, including the whole turkey dinner with pie included. Finally realizing his dream, he later attended the LA Police Academy and worked for Santa Monica until he was injured while apprehending a murder suspect and was forced to retire. He moved to Star Valley and became the Afton Chief of Police for 12 years. He married Eva Cheryl Fluckiger, and they were together 51 years. Chuck has 4 daughters, 14 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. Chuck did a bike-a-thon every year for 45 years and earned money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Chuck loved to work out and he would be found opening the high school gym at 5 AM, where he met many lifelong friends.

He loved to work at the Schwab Mortuary and help those people who needed him in their time of sorrow. He was a very strong, outgoing, and fiercely patriotic man. Chuck also worked for Aviat airplane factory and built the wings on the Pitt plane for a few years. He loved to build kitchen cabinets and bookcases also. With his degree in cooking and baking, he made many birthday and wedding cakes for people all over the Valley.

He loved hunting, fishing, and camping, and spent lots of time doing all three of these with family and friends. The grandsons can tell a couple good fishing and hunting stories. While Chief of Police, Chuck organized the Afton Police Reserve. They made sure that the town had 24-hour police coverage. They helped put up all the street signs, directed traffic for the parades, and helped with other happenings in the town like the fish scramble. He also gave lots of talks about drugs in Wyoming and Idaho.

Chuck loved his country and the people of Afton, Star Valley, and Wyoming. He was instrumental in starting the first ambulance service and the first class of Emergency Medical Technicians in Afton, where he then participated in

working in it. He was Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander for Star Valley Post 4797 for 24 years. He was also Afton Post 49 American Legion Commander for 17 years. Chuck was presented an award for “All American Commander” from VFW National Headquarters. He was instrumental in starting the Veterans Medical Clinic in Afton and drove the Veterans Van between Afton and Salt Lake, transporting Veterans to and from medical appointments. Chuck served on the Wyoming Veterans Commission. Boy Scouts was a wonderful job for him, and he presented many Eagle Scout Awards. Doing Honor Guards for deceased Veterans was very important to him. He did 293 of them, when they started counting. Chuck taught Wyoming Hunters Safety classes for 38 years and was honored to teach 1893 students in that time. He was getting ready to set up another class in 2022, when he passed away a month before turning 89 years old. He loved to lead the parades pulling the Veterans and flags behind his bright red patriotic truck.