PRORODEO Sports News - Sept. 9, 2026

Sutton at his 2020 induc tion into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame with fellow South Dakotan Jordan Tierney, Miss Rodeo

America 2020. PRCA file photo

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sonnel and run the best production. He ingrained that into all of us. “Jim also was just a great person. Whatever you needed he was there for you.” Jim and Julie received the Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Julie Sutton passed away July 21, 2021, at the age of 85 – four days before Jim was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame – after a prolonged battle with cancer. Jim and Julie were married for 68 years. “This is terrific to be recognized for an award like this at this stage of the game,” Jim said about receiving the Donita Barnes honor. “The best part of the whole thing is our entire family is involved in our farming and ranch operation.” Jim Sutton continued to hit the road

for Sutton Rodeo’s biggest produc tions, including Rodeo Rapid City, which he started in 1978 as the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo. The rodeo has been nominated 25 times as the PRCA Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year, winning the title seven times (2002-03, 2020-21, 2023-25). “I wish I had a few more years,” Jim Sutton said. “This show in Rapid City, there are no better rodeos anywhere. We always get the top cowboys and try to bring the best stock we can. That’s just the way it is. “All my life, we’ve tried to get rodeos like this and keep them going. Rapid City is (the result) of what we’ve been trying to do for years. It’s all kind of

fallen into place.” Today Jim’s son, Steve Sutton, serves as the president of Sutton Ro deo Company with his wife, Kim, and their children, Brent, Brice and Amy are all partners in the business. Public visitation for Jim Sutton Jr. will be from 10-11 a.m. (CT), Sept. 14, at the Onida School Gymnasium, followed by a celebration of his life at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, Jim asked that do nations be made to the basketball and rodeo teams at South Dakota State, the Casey Tibbs Rodeo Center Museum in Fort Pierre, S.D., and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs.

September 9, 2026 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE 15