ProRodeo Sports News - April 3, 2020

horses, didn’t own one saddle, not one flank, nothing,” Jerry said. “He got along with people and leased everything from my grandpa (Walt Alsbaugh). At that time, my grandpa was running 700 to 800 head of horses and 200 head of bulls. My dad would pay my grandpa a lease, and then my dad would go put on his own rodeos.” Virginia and Roy met in 1963 and were married 55 years. “My mom and dad were a team,” Jerry

leadership roles, you might say, in the stock contractor meetings at the NFR. Roy was never afraid to speak up and state what was on his mind. … I thought that was amazing. When I was riding broncs, I would go to their rodeos and I got to know them, and they were always fair to whoever was at their rodeo. The Honeycutts made a living by being stock contractors, and their word was all you

ROY HONEYCUTT Age: 82, passed away March 25. Occupation: Stock contractor. Start- ed the Honeycutt Rodeo Company in 1976. Sold it to son, Jerry, in 2012. Honors: Roy and his late wife, Virginia, received the 2019 PRCA Donita Barnes Contract Personnel Lifetime Achievement Award

needed. If they told you something, looked you in the eye and shook your hand, you didn’t have to have anything written down because they would follow through.” Joe Butler, who has worked as a bullfighter for Honeycutt Rodeo since 2004, praised Roy “Roy and the whole Honeycutt family were good to be around,” Butler said. “Roy also took care of business and took really good care of committees. There’s a reason I’ve worked for them as long as I have, they treated me well and everybody well. Roy would give the shirt off his back. He was as genuine as it comes. What he said was gold. My PRCA career, I owe it to Roy and the Honeycutt family.” The last rodeo Roy attended was the Division 1 Xtreme Bulls in Fort Mohave, Ariz., Feb. 28-29, where Honeycutt Rodeo was the stock contractor. “He watched both performances of the bull riding,”

said. “The proudest thing that I am of my mom and dad is they left me a legacy of being a believer, of being a Christian. To me, in my faith and what I believe is the ultimate thing to be proud of and not only the work ethic they instilled in us. My brother and sister are the hardest working people.” As a former rodeo contestant and producer, Roy took things he liked and incorporated them into his own outfit. “He liked bucking horses, but he liked the pageantry and the behind-the- scenes of putting on a rodeo,” Jerry said. “He used to work for Cotton Rosser,

he went to Japan with Casey Tibbs. Casey put on a Wild West Show in Japan. Casey was the boss and my dad was in charge of all the livestock. My dad and Casey rodeoed together. My dad rode bulls and Casey rode broncs, and they would travel around to all the rodeos together. They were good friends.” And he was a joy to work for. “For anybody who wants a family-friendly, good rodeo, Roy Honeycutt brought up a family that is so steeped in the belief of family entertainment,” ProRodeo Hall of Fame announcer Randy Corley said. “It was really awesome to work their rodeo and to see that whole family pull together. He and Virginia were wonderful people and wonderful to be around. I think if Roy got mad, he did it in a nice way.” Marty Barnes, a fellow stock contractor, concurred with Corley. “My dad (Bob) was a stock contractor, and he and Roy were similar in age,” Barnes said. “I would see both in

Jerry said. “All the things my dad did, but he had never been to the Grand Canyon. My wife, Dawn, was driving him home from the bull riding, and they went out of the way about 100 miles and took a tour of the Grand Canyon. I look back on that. God blessed himwith a good last month of his life.” The bloodline on some of Honeycutt Rodeo Company’s colts goes back to Alsbaugh’s Spark Plug, the top Bareback Horse of the NFR in 1974. In 2000, the Honeycutt Rodeo Company started its own bull breeding program with “Candy Man.” In 2010, Honeycutt Rodeo received the Family Heritage Award from the WPRA.

Photo courtesy Honeycutt family Roy Honeycutt served in the Korean War for the United States Army.

Photo courtesy Honeycutt family Roy Honeycutt, seated and surrounded by family and friends, holds the 2019 PRCA Donita Barnes Contract Personnel Lifetime Achievement Award presented to him and his late wife, Virginia, at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Dec. 4.

ProRodeo Sports News 4/3/2020

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