PRORODEO Sports News February Digital Edition

PASSINGS

HALL OF FAME TIE-DOWN ROPER GLEN FRANKLIN PASSES AWAY AT 89 PRCA Staff

P roRodeo Hall of Fame tie-down roper Glen Frank lin, a three-time RCA World Champion, passed away Jan. 3 at his home in House, N.M. He was 89 years old. Franklin set a new standard for tie-down roping, win ning several major RCA, later renamed to the PRCA, ro deos throughout his career, including Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days (1967), the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo (1965, 1970) and the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo (1965), among others. He was also a three-time champion at the National Western Stock Show and Ro deo in Denver (1958, 1965, 1968) and the Grand National Stock Show & Rodeo in San Francisco, Calif. (1957, 1961 and 1962). In 1968, he set a record for single-season earn

Franklin qualified for the National Finals Rodeo eight times in his career (1959-62; and 1965-68). He captured the gold buckle in tie-down roping in 1965, 1967 and 1968. He also won the NFR average championship in 1967. Following his third world title, Franklin retired from PRORODEO and began teaching his son, Shawn, the ins and outs of calf roping. Shawn went on to qualify for the NFR five times in his career (1993-95; 1997; and 2002.) “My son, Shawn, was carrying the New Mexico State flag in the grand entry just as I had in 1968,” Franklin wrote. “That was Shawn’s fourth time to qualify for the NFR. Because I qualified for the first NFR held in Dallas

in 1959, I have watched the Finals from the very first get better and better through the years.” Franklin’s accolades helped him become part of the inaugural ProRo deo Hall of Fame class in 1979. Franklin is survived by his wife, Jimmie Gayle Franklin; his son, Jerry Franklin; his daughters, Tamara Franklin and Shelly Horton, who was Miss Rodeo New Mexico in 1991, and her hus band, Chris Horton; his son, Shawn Franklin; his sister, Doris Lee, and her husband, Bob Lee; and four grandchildren, Anna Franklin, Steeley Franklin, Cross Horton and Cassidy Horton. He was preceded in death by his father Robert Meeks, and his mother Catherine Wilson Franklin.

ings at $33,252. He won $1,356 at the National Finals Rodeo that year to win his third world cham pionship in four years. “I didn’t have much pressure on myself,” Franklin wrote in a first-person story recap ping the 1968 Finals. “As it turns out, every 1968 world championship was won by the person who led going into the NFR.” Franklin’s legacy began while growing up in New Mexico. He was an all state basketball player in high school and won the state high school tie-down roping championship. He received a full-ride schol arship to play basketball at Eastern New Mexico University, but soon after was faced with a decision to continue to pursue basketball or roping. He chose roping.

PRCA File Photo

FEBRUARY 2026 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE 55