Steven Werbelow

Jeff McKearney

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Steven Werbelow and Pastor Jeff McKearney met at church and soon became fast friends, sharing a love for northwest Wyoming’s mountain ranges and hunting. Werbelow successfully guided McKearney on his first ever bear hunt early in their friendship.

This season Werbelow had an elk tag near the North Fork of the Shoshone River and McKearney arrived at Werbelow’s spot at Eagle Creek Campground in the Shoshone National Forest the night of Oct. 23 to assist him on the following day, according to Werbelow’s son, Hunter. But the hunt wasn’t to be. The following day the two friends were found dead in Werbelow’s recreational vehicle by friends delivering horses for the hunt.

According to Park County Coroner Cody Gortmaker, a good friend of McKearney, the two are suspected to have died due to “accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Gortmaker was called to the scene of the deaths and said it was difficult for him to do his job that Thursday afternoon, but that he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to work the scene.

“Pastor Jeff was a very good friend of mine. He really was a great person,” Gortmaker said in a Monday interview with the Tribune.

McKearney was the senior pastor at Cody Bible Church — where his wife Lori also served — and the founder of the now closed Cornerstone Community Church that had its home in Powell for nearly two decades. Werbelow was a renowned taxidermist and a former City of Powell Parks Department employee.

The incident is still under investigation, according to Gortmaker, and bloodwork for the two hunters was sent to the state to be tested for carbon monoxide poisoning.

‘Hunter Pastor’

“Jeff was absolutely a passionate hunter,” said Greg Wilson, general manager at Heart Mountain Equipment and one of McKearney’s best friends.

McKearney was dubbed “Hunter Pastor” by a former exchange student at Northwest College, Wilson said.

He remembers the student saying “You don’t act like a pastor. You act like a hunter,” Wilson said. “He just had such passion for hunting — everything and anything you could hunt, he would hunt.”

Wilson said McKearney had a unique preaching style; more passionate than compassionate, with very high energy and honesty that was “almost raw.”

“He was incredibly honest, and that reflected in his preaching. He never had a problem sharing a struggle or being real about how a situation affected him or when he shared about the significance of some scripture,” Wilson said. “It was more personal, because he would share from his life.”

He was also gregarious, Wilson said.

“If we went to lunch, let’s just say at McDonald’s, for example, he’d have a three minute conversation with the cashier. He was outgoing and that fun uncle kind of guy.”

McKearney was diligent, known to study hard for his sermons and always willing to help with parishioners’ home projects, including painting or construction projects.

“He did not desire to be a preacher, but he was one of the best I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Wilson said.

Services for McKearney will be at Cody Bible Church on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 at 10 a.m.

‘Mountain Man’

Werbelow moved to Wyoming immediately after graduating from high school in California and started his own business, Werbelow’s Taxidermy. His son Hunter said his family called him “Mountain Man.”

“Even if he wasn’t hunting, he loved being up in the mountains exploring,” Hunter said Monday.

Werbelow worked for two of the area’s top taxidermy shops and did the taxidermic art for many of the displays at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Hunter said. He had just retired from a full-time job at Dewey’s Wildlife Studio in Cody before the hunt.

“He has a closet full of trophies,” Hunter said about his father’s contest wins for taxidermic art. “The only time he ever did the [Taxidermy World Show], he took second place Best in Show.”

Hunter said his father was full of life and loved everything relating to the outdoors.

“He always wanted to take other people out and be the one to help experience their first hunts,” he said.

Werbelow was also generous, “willing to give you the shirt off his back,” Hunter said.

Werbelow was a devoted family man, and was close with his two children, three siblings throughout his life. He was preceded in death by his father, Clarence Werbelow, who passed in 2023.

His son followed him into the taxidermy business and now works in Alaska for The Wildlife Gallery, a custom taxidermy shop.

Hunter said his father died in pursuit of another adventure.

“I feel like the way he went out, he was doing something that he loved,” he said.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations be sent to the Wyoming Association of Taxidermy Artists. A memorial will be held Nov. 8, 2024 at 4 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Powell. 

In honor of Steve, attire will be casual with camo preferred.