PRORODEO Sports News March 2026 Digital Edition

PASSINGS

several of the top saddle makers currently working in the industry today. He opened Cowboy Saddle Shop in 1972 and since then, he created 773 works of art – all unique to each customer’s specifications and all crafted by him alone. Many of his customers were repeat buyers and along the way became close friends. Larry was a prankster and always enjoyed a good laugh at the results of someone blowing on a coyote call and getting baby powder all over their face. He would save $1 bills and use them to buy his seat at the local poker game, knowing all 100 of them would have to be counted by hand. When competing in steer roping, he was known for carrying Dum Dums in his shirt pocket and passing them out to the rodeo kids knowing their faces would get sticky and soon be covered in dirt. He would just smile. So many memories shared by those now grown-up rodeo kids (and his nieces and nephews) include mentions of the Dum Dums. The blue ones were the best – unless you were the rodeo mom left with clean up. Larry loved to read books and was a regular visitor to the Canyon Library. He enjoyed going fishing and if given the choice, would take the longer scenic route to get there instead of major highways. There were always fishing poles in his horse trailer, and he knew all the good places to cast a line while traveling the rodeo road. The last several years he made multiple trips to Lake Texhoma to fish with his children. Larry is survived by his wife of 57 years, Barbara; their children, Jody (Shelly) Duggan; Casey Duggan; Mikey Jo Duggan and their granddaughter, Jadyn Duggan; brothers William Rollie (Mary) Duggan III and Greg (Kathy) Dug gan; sister Kathy (Elbert) Franklin and numerous nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, William Rollie Duggan Jr., and Marjorie Carpenter Duggan; brother, Steven Duggan and nephew, Andrew Duggan. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and condolence messages they have received since Larry’s passing. If you had the pleasure of knowing Larry, then you couldn’t help but love him and that little twinkle in his eyes when he smiled. Honoring Larry’s wishes, the family has chosen crema tion. No memorial is planned. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Larry’s memory to HANDS, a group of rodeo women whose quiet purpose is to lift up members of the rodeo family when times are tough. Donations can be sent to HANDS, PO Box 1414, Canyon, Texas, 79015. DR. ED LETOURNEAU, TWO-TIME NFR BULL RIDER, PASSES AWAY PRCA Staff Dr. Ed LeTourneau passed away on Sunday, Jan. 18. He was 90 years old. LeTourneau qualified for the National Finals Rodeo twice

PRCA File Photo

in bull riding in 1959 at the inaugural NFR at the Dallas State Fair Grounds, and in 1961 also in Dallas. He finished fifth in the 1959 world standings and seventh in 1961. In 1959, LeTourneau won Rounds 8 and 10 and he split second in Round 2 and Round 9. He finished second in the NFR average. When he returned to the NFR in 1961, he split fourth in Round 2 and was second outright in Round 4. He placed fifth in the average. “I was privileged to have Ed as a traveling partner in my plane,” the late ProRodeo Hall of Famer Larry Mahan said in a Jun 2014 Facebook post. “The many hours in the air between rodeos gave me a chance to get to know this most unusual of bull riders. First and foremost in my recollec tion was his positive attitude, intelligence and absolute joy of life. “But it was his sense of humor and dedication to the sport of rodeo that cemented our friendship, which has flourished for almost 50 years.” In addition to a successful career in rodeo, which led to his induction into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame in 2022, LeTourneau was an all-around athlete and an accom plished veterinarian. LeTourneau put himself through veterinary school at the University of California Davis while competing in arenas across the country and earned his veterinary degree by the spring of 1962. As a student, he also excelled on the mat, leading to his 1981 induction to the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame for his contributions in wrestling from 1954 58. He stayed for an additional year as an intern at the UC-Davis Large Animal Clinic. Dr. LeTourneau went on to open an equine practice in Oakdale, Calif., before settling in Madera, Calif. “He is an amazing role model for our Western culture and youth,” Mahan said in his post. “What an honor it is for me to know Ed and call him a friend.”

MARCH 2026 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE 41