Funeral services for Hugo Alvin Lenz, age 95, of Wheatland, will be held on Monday, May 18th at 2:00 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church in Wheatland, with Reverend Lincoln Winter presiding. Burial will follow at the Wheatland cemetery. Pallbearers are Kyle Lenz, Fr. Clark Lenz, Cory Schroeder, Ron Barthel, Mick Cochran and Ed Sorge. Hugo passed from this life on May 11, 2026, at Platte County Memorial Hospital. He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Martha (Hales) Lenz in 2017. Hugo is survived by his two sons: Hugh (Lynda) of Wheatland and Travis (Cathy), also of Wheatland / Cheyenne. He had four grandchildren: Brett Lenz of Pinedale, Kyle Lenz (Taylor) of San Antonio, Fr. Clark Lenz of Casper and Taylor Schroeder (Cory) of Cheyenne. He also had three great-grandchildren: Hayes Lenz of San Antonio, as well as Martha and Mary Schroeder of Cheyenne.
Hugo was preceded in death by his parents: Henry (1969) and Carrie (1972) and all his siblings including stepbrother Ralph Lingwood (Betty), stepsister Alma Bostrom (Oscar), sister Fern Taylor (Don), brother Richard Lenz (Jenny) and brother Gene Lenz (Joan).
Hugo was born on March 5, 1931 in Lusk, baptized and confirmed at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church and raised in Lusk. While growing up, his family had residences in the town of Lusk, as well as five miles north on his mother’s homestead. He graduated from Lusk High School in 1949. A strong understanding of Hugo and what made him tick were the time and place he grew up; rural Wyoming, the Great Depression and World War II. Beginning at the age of twelve and all the way through high school, Hugo and his older brother Richard worked before school, on weekends and in the summer at Kilmer Creamery as delivery boys.
This was in addition to their farm duties. Hugo and Richard had permission from grades six through twelve to be late to school after their jobs were done. They were expected to give their weekly pay to Henry and Carrie to help pay the bills. Hugo said; ‘That’s just the way it was in those days.” However, their parents consented to letting them keep the annual Christmas cash they received from local businesswoman, Dell Burke, owner of the ‘Yellow Hotel’ (house of ill repute). Ms. Burke, on more than one occasion, was heard rebuking Oscar Kilmer, owner of Kilmer Creamery, for how hard he worked the Lenz boys. Later in life Hugo and Richard used to share stories about delivering milk at 4 a.m. to the Yellow Hotel and what they sometimes saw. Hugo always complained about his older brother never letting him drive. On one delivery Hugo told Richard he was someday going to own a new car just like Ms. Burke’s. Richard replied, “You couldn’t afford a hubcap off that thing.” However, Hugo did get to drive the school bus for his fellow Hat Creek Breaks classmates for a short time as a teenager until a complaint was made about the rate of speed he drove. Yes, this trait would endure throughout the State Farm agent's life. Hugo would reminisce about the Blizzard of ‘49 and the work involved getting creamery products out to the people of Lusk. High school sports were something Hugo wanted to participate in, but his father told the coaches he needed him on the farm. That surely didn’t deter him from handing out plenty of player and coaching advice as an adult. When asked just exactly what experience he had playing basketball, he said, “I scored ten points in an FFA game.” Instant credibility. His father finally let him play football his senior year.
After high school Hugo went out to Burns, Oregon and worked as a roughneck in the oil fields. He then came back to Wyoming and joined the Air Force, stationed at F.E. Warren in Cheyenne during the Korean War. While at Warren he became a sergeant. He married Martha Hales in 1953 and the couple were blessed with two boys, Hugh and Travis. Soon after, Hugo landed a job with State Farm Insurance in Wheatland, where the family moved in 1956. Many discouraged him from doing this as they said the drought on the Wheatland flats at that time was too severe to begin a business. They purchased a home on the north end of town, next to Wheatco and resided there until 1978. Hugo worked night shifts at Wheatco for Ray Lamborn to supplement the insurance agency until it could get built up. Hugo and Martha ran the agency together out of their home until 1975. He became a very successful agent and after 39 years, retired in 1995. Hugo had clients all over southeast Wyoming. He often said though, he had two favorite places. The first was Hartville / Sunrise, the miners and their families. He shared numerous stories about that community and knew its history well. The other was the hills west of Wheatland; the Burneys in Harris Park, Bromelys in Cottonwood Park and Hanks in Elk Park. He was so happy that his daughter-in-law, Lynda, was given the opportunity to take over the agency when he retired, often boasting about her expertise and quality of service.
Hugo enjoyed numerous hobbies and pastimes. He and his wife Martha bowled each week at the YMCA in Sunrise until Wheatlanes opened in 1963 and were also in a bridge club together. In 1963 Hugo, Martha, Don and Betty Jording purchased a cabin in Harris Park. This soon became a “slice of heaven” for the two couples and their children. Hugo coached little league and babe ruth baseball for several years. He was a member of the Wheatland Volunteer Fire Department and was the plug man for their five-time state champion drill team. He had several Gold Wing motorcycles and toured all over the United States up through his upper seventies. His competitive nature really came out as a state champion horseshoe pitcher and pool league shooter for several years. At the age of 92 he was coaxed into being a last-minute sub in the Wheatland pool league and going 3-1 for the night. Much to his wife’s chagrin, he became a collector of all kinds of things: cars, antiques, bottles, signs, but especially license plates. He had an amazing collection of license plates, but even more impressive was his knowledge of the history of Wyoming license plates. He gave hundreds of talks about the Wyoming plates throughout the state.
Hugo liked to memorize things. He could tell you all the U.S. Presidents in the order in which they served, as well as recite, in order, all 93 Nebraska counties, their license plate number and location. He was a Ford man and knew all the body shapes for cars and trucks, sometimes more accurately than the dealers.
Sports were always a big part of Hugo’s life. He closely followed the Cowboys and Broncos, but his love was the Bulldogs. He knew the history of the 1929-30 championship boys basketball team and could tell you about each player. He liked to remind current players and coaches they hadn’t brought home a championship since that time.
Most of Hugo’s adult friends died before he did. His biggest pals were ‘The Great’ Johnny Baker (Lingle) and ‘Chief’ Eldon Randall (Wheatland). However, in the last five years of his life he met a new friend, Aracely Garcia. Aracely came into his home to help provide meals, laundry and cleaning, but their friendship was immense. Hugo often said, “There's nobody like that Sally.” Through Hugo's encouragement and instruction Aracely earned her U.S. citizenship along with a whole host of other information the ever-ready instructor felt the captive audience needed. In Hugo's later years he was very active in the American Legion and served as the Wyoming State Commander.
He was a faithful member of Trinity Lutheran Church, loved his Lord and Savior and church family. He very much enjoyed life, but often said he was looking forward to heaven.
