Wyoming Legend Gap Pucci’s Cabin Saved by Sandal-Wearing Nuns

Gap Pucci was the kind of old-school Wyoming legend you read about in books — and now, thanks to two nuns in sandals and snow, his story will live on.

More than two decades after trekking through knee-deep snow in open-toed sandals to see Pucci’s glowing hilltop crosses, Mother Marie Wendy McMenamy and Sister Mary Augustine have stepped in to buy Pucci’s beloved Jackson Hole cabin. Their promise? No luxury mansion, no bulldozers — just preserving the life and legacy of a true Wyoming original.

The sisters met Pucci at a dinner nearly 25 years ago. What started as small talk about shared Sicilian roots turned into a lifelong friendship. That night, despite freezing temps and zero socks, the nuns hiked up a snowy hill to see Pucci’s illuminated crosses — a spiritual experience McMenamy still calls a “God moment.”

“He was one of a kind,” McMenamy said. “You just don’t meet too many people like Gap.”

Pucci’s cabin isn’t some modern log lodge. It’s a remote, woodstove-heated haven, tucked between elk feeding grounds and National Forest land — 17 miles from Jackson and only reachable by snowmobile in winter. Inside? Wildlife mounts, weathered boots, and the stories of a man who lived the West like it was still the frontier.

Pucci passed away last October at age 89. His daughter, Teresa Pucci-Haas, has been struggling with what to do with the place since.

“We just couldn’t afford to keep Dad’s place,” she said.

Then out of the blue came a call from Mother Wendy:

“We’d love to buy your dad’s property.”

McMenamy said she and her sister in faith formed a foundation to make the purchase. Their goal is simple: preserve Pucci’s land, his stories, and his memory — not cash in on Jackson real estate.

“I had been heartbroken thinking someone would come in, bulldoze it, and build a mansion,” Haas said. “But Mother Wendy? She’s keeping it exactly as it is. She even bought all his mounts.”

They’re planning to turn it into a spiritual retreat for nuns and priests — a quiet place for reflection, prayer, and a connection to the wild Wyoming landscape Pucci loved so fiercely.

Pucci wasn’t just any mountain man. He and his wife married in 1965 but lived like it was 1865 — no running water, no phone, no television. Just a woodstove, a pickup, and wild animals as neighbors.

He started his outfitting business in 1975, running camps deep in the Gros Ventre Wilderness, so remote that his daughter’s birth announcement had to be dropped from a bush plane.

And when the Forest Service tried to take over his cabin? Pucci dismantled it log by log and took it with him.

He didn’t even start writing his legendary stories until his 80s. His first book, We Married Adventure, recounts life in that rugged cabin — with his wife, his horses, and the occasional badger sneaking in the door.

Over the years, McMenamy made a point of visiting Pucci whenever she was in town. She’d bring him Sicilian pasta, cheesecake, groceries — and letters. Lots of them. After his death, she discovered he’d saved every card and letter she ever sent.

One of her last memories with Pucci was hearing him read the introduction to his third book — which included a newsletter she had written about him.

“I wrote that he reminded me of John Wayne,” she said. “He read it aloud to me, and I cried right there in his living room.”

Now, Pucci’s daughter is working to keep his memory alive in other ways too. She’s donated outfitting gear to local museums and regularly shares his stories and photos online to keep his “little fan base” growing. She’s sold around $5,000 worth of his books.

“We’re losing our history of Jackson Hole,” Haas said. “People pass away, and the kids don’t know what to do with their stuff, so they chuck it. I couldn’t do that to my dad.”

With the cabin staying intact, she said it feels like the perfect ending — one her dad would’ve loved.

“He’s probably up there dancing right now,” she said. “His spirit is alive and so happy.”

The original story by Renée Jean for Cowboy State Daily.