ProRodeo Sports News - December 16, 2022

BARRY BURK ProRodeo Hall of Fame tie-down roper Barry Burk passed away Dec. 16. He was 79. Burk was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1994 and qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 18 times – 16 in tie-down roping (1964-77, 1979-80) and twice in steer wrestling (1963, 1969). He also competed as a team roping header at the 1968 NFR. Barry’s father, Dee Burk, was a top-notch rodeo performer who taught him the intricacies of roping and rodeo. His uncle, Jiggs, was another standout roper and his uncle, Clyde, was a four-time tie-down roping world champion. JEROME ROBINSON ProRodeo Hall of Fame bull rider Jerome Robinson passed away Jan. 9. He was 74. Robinson, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2019, qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 11 times – 1970-75 and 1977-81. He went on to become a cowboy with many hats – a contestant, contractor, event producer, contract personnel and member of the PRCA Board of Directors. Robinson was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as a Notable, a word that perfectly summarizes his career. GLENN J. MILLER Glenn Miller of Tumalo, Ore., Sisters (Ore.) Rodeo Association president for more than 20 years, passed Feb. 9 after an extended illness. He was 75. Miller first served as Sisters Rodeo Association President in 1988. During that term, he convinced the board of directors to join the PRCA. He was elected again in 1999, and served through 2019, when he stepped away from the post. WILLIAM M. (BILL) HOLT WilliamM. “Bill” Holt, rodeo announcer and PRCA Gold Card member, passed away, Feb. 21. He was 91. As a member of the rodeo team at Montana State University, he competed at the first College Rodeo Finals at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. This began a 40-plus year career of announcing professional rodeos, horse shows, horse racing, and auctioneering. RAYMOND (R.E.) JOSEY Raymond (R.E.) Josey, a PRCA Gold Card member, rodeo champion and owner of the Josey Ranch in Karnack, Texas, passed away Feb. 24. He was 91. He’s survived by his wife of 56 years, ProRodeo Hall of Famer Martha Arthur Josey, a world champion barrel racer. Born toWalter C. Josey and Addie Young Josey on Oct. 8, 1930, near Post, Texas, R.E. had six siblings. R.E., winner of three AQHA Tie-Down Roping World Championships on three different horses in the 1970s, and Martha began conducting barrel racing clinics in 1967 and still host the long-running barrel racing and calf roping clinics. JACK CARSON Jack Carson, a former PRCA cowboy, passed away March 3. He was 92. Jack was born Jan. 27, 1930, in Burns, Ore., to Lester “Lefty” Carson and Elenor “Cookie” Carson. He married Joyce Way after her previous husband, Dick Way, passed while breaking a horse. Carson left school in the 10th grade to ride the rodeo circuit. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951 as a Morse code operator and then discharged in 1953, where he then returned to the rodeo. Carson was honored as a legend in Oregon, and they said if he had continued, he probably would have been a world champion cowboy, but he wanted to be home with his wife and kids instead. CAROLYN SUE LYTLE Carolyn Sue Lytle of Byhalia, Miss., a PRCAmember, passed away on March 11. She was 74. Lytle was born on May 2, 1947, in Monticello, Ark. She also was a Gold Card Member of the International Pro Rodeo Association. BLUE STONE Blue Stone, who won PRCA Bull Riding World Championships in 2001 and PASSAGES OF 2022

2002, passed away March 13 inWillard, Utah. He was 43. Stone, who was born May 26, 1978, in Ogden, Utah, earned his first world championship by earning $174,772 to edge Cody Hancock by less than $10,000. He followed that up in 2002 by earning $157,707 and edged Myron Duarte by less than $9,000. Those were the only two appearances Stone made at the NFR. Stone was the first cowboy to win back-to-back PRCA Bull Riding World Championships since Don Gay won three world titles in a row from 1979 81. Stone shares the NFR Round 1 bull riding record with Gay. Gay had a 94-point ride in 1974 and Stone equaled that score in 2001. GREG DALE DOERING Greg Dale Doering, a PRCA bullfighter and rodeo clown, passed away March 20. He was 70. He loved entertaining kids and adults in the midway at numerous rodeos. Born Jan. 28, 1952, in Cottage Grove, Ore., to Dale and Kay (Leonard) Sears, he grew up on the family ranch in Roseburg with his mom and stepfather, Karl Doering. Greg embraced the true western lifestyle: rodeoing, riding bulls, steer wrestling, and later as a professional rodeo clown/ bullfighter. He also started the Rodeo Clown Reunion in Roseburg, Ore., which was held there every three years from 1974 through 1989. BUD MUNROE Saddle bronc rider Bud Munroe, a ProRodeo Hall of Famer, passed away April 9 inWaco, Texas. He was 70. Munroe was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2007, and his wife Jimmie, a world champion barrel racer and president of the WPRA, was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2019. Munroe and his wife were married for 41 years and have a daughter, Tassie. The couple resides in Valley Mills, Texas. Munroe qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 12 times – 1977-88 and the highlight of his riding career was winning the 1986 PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding World Championship over fellow ProRodeo Hall of Famer Clint Johnson. TOM GIPSON TomGipson, a PRCA Gold Card member and steer roper, passed away on April 13 in Eaton, Colo. He was 91. Gipson was so many things to so many people, that he seemed larger than life, and the wonderful thing about him is that he really was. His wide range of knowledge cannot be summed up by just talking about “the oil field”, “rodeo” or even “he was an inventor.” J.W. STOKER J.W. Stoker, a member of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, passed away April 21 in Weatherford, Texas. He was 94. Stoker, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2011, built a career spanning more than seven decades by being equally adept as a trick rider and trick roper. In the spring of 1939, Stoker was hired by the Clyde S. Miller Rodeo Show as a young trick roper. Stoker was a member of several riding clubs where he learned to trick rope and ride from Pinky Barnes who traveled to Kansas City in the winter of 1938 to teach kids how to rope. Stoker, who was known as the King of Cowboy Trick Riders and Ropers, got his picture on a Wheaties cereal box at age 12. Stoker was named the PRCA Specialty Act of the Year in 1985 and 1986. DONALD LEE MERRILL Donald Lee Merrill, a PRCA Gold Card Member and steer wrestler, passed away April 26. He was 87. He finished atop the steer wrestling standings in the Kiwanis Benefit Rodeo in November 1976 with a time of 2.7 seconds. Merrill was born in Sioux Falls, S.D., on June 14, 1934, to George and Edna (Hink) Merrill. He won the South Dakota High School Rodeo Championship in 1953 in the event of steer wrestling. RICHARD LEE PETERSON Richard Lee Peterson, a former PRCA pickup man, passed away May 15 in Grant, Nebraska. He was 78. Peterson was born March 5, 1944, to Harold and

ProRodeo Sports News 12/16/2022

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