Greg Weinrich, age 63, of Cortez, CO, passed away on August the 16th as his fight with throat cancer ended peacefully. A Prayer Service will be held at Visitation Catholic Church, 5141 Main Street, Kansas City, MO, on Thursday, September 10th at 5:00pm. 

Greg was born February 1st, 1963, the third son of Joe and Marcia (Worley) Weinrich, in Kansas City, and was raised with his brothers at 815 West 56th Street. He attended Visitation grade school and graduated from Rockhurst High School in 1981. Greg was a competitive athlete excelling in football and ice hockey, both contact sports, equally as good at swimming / diving and tennis if he could get through a set without breaking his racket. He eventually hung up his cleats and helmet (we thought) and put on his boots and hat to pursue his dream of being a Cowboy and joined the rodeo team after enrolling at the University of Wyoming. 

In the summer before his junior year, he surprised all of us and decided to join his brother, Jeff, at the University of Missouri in the fall, pledge The Sigma Chi Fraternity, as well as walk-on and play varsity football for the Tigers. He made an immediate impact at both and one was much more of a challenge than the other. Greg climbed the depth chart quickly after spring ball and was penciled in to play outside linebacker and special teams in the fall. That opportunity was short lived as his former KC girlfriend (the main reason he came to Columbia) had other man-plans, so over the summer he abruptly said “I’m going back out west to ride, it’s where I belong.” He did just that for the next couple of decades on the professional circuit and many city rodeos across Wyoming / Cheyenne Frontier Days and Colorado.

Greg's love for the mountains and the west started early in his life with yearly family ski trips to Vail / Beavercreek and Winter Park, monthly visits to the McLiney’s ranch and Sandow’s farm riding horses as well as hunting trips with his Dad to western Kansas.

Greg held a deep respect for the pioneers and ones that forged the Mountain West. He was simple and didn’t need much as he bounced around as many rodeo riders do with a backpack, duffle bag, and saddle bag. He settled in Kiowa CO for several years and then ended up in the Four Corners in Cortez CO. As Greg aged, his body, once unbreakable, began to show signs of wear and tear and in the end, his throat cancer returned and became his final challenge. It was the only fight Greg ever lost, but his gain and reward is now in heaven with his parents, class of 1981 friends, and family that have gone before him.

He was proceeded in death by his parents and nephew, Trevor Joseph Weinrich. Greg is survived by his daughter, Lauren Elizabeth Weinrich of Highlands Ranch, CO; his girlfriend, Carrie Reshell Leonard of Larkspur CO; his brothers, Christopher Anderson Weinrich of Overland Park, KS, Kurt Joseph Weinrich, (Johanna) Homosassa, FL, Greta Skye Weinrich, Honolulu, HI, Jeffrey Lorenz Weinrich, (Louisa) of Kansas City, MO, Morgan Weinrich Jurden, (Cole), Kansas City MO, Melanie Weinrich Musto, (Nick), Brady Stephen Weinrich, Kansas City MO, Allison Marie Weinrich, Pacific Beach CA, and a host of cousins and great nieces and nephews.

We would like to thank the care givers at Lowry Hills and UC Health in Aurora, CO.