ProRodeo Sports News - June 21, 2024

the people around him that his dad did. Mosher was a rancher all his life from the time he could ride a stick-horse to his last day with us, when he was riding the horse that he made to put out bulls. He is known by all of them for his genuine smile and for always finding a good thing to say to everyone he met to encourage them and build them up. This world could use more great cowboys like Matt. If God’s got a heaven for cowboy legends, then Matt is up there spurring “souped-up hoppers” and riding good horses, chasing cattle on a thousand hills. Memorial contributions can be made for the benefit of Matt’s children, by sending a check made out to the Matt Mosher Memorial Fund, care of Eastern Colorado Bank (any location). Wayne Cornish, a specialty act performer in the Rodeo Cowboys Association, the precursor to the PRCA, passed away May 19 at his home in Enid, Okla. He was 89. Cornish was the only child of Cecil and Juanita Cornish, and was raised in Waukomis, Okla. He grew up in a rodeo family, his father was a rodeo contract performer who trained animals. His mother made all the fancy outfits for them in their performances. Cornish earned his first money, in the rodeo arena, at the age of 5 when rodeo clowns John Lindsey and Hoyt Hefner paid him to ride a Brahma bull calf. He rode him, all the way across WAYNE CORNISH

the arena, but lost both his boots. Cornish was only 13 when he started as a rodeo clown. He also became a Roman rider, and trained two white horses, the Flying White Clouds, which he performed on for 20 years. Cornish worked as a barrelman and Roman rider and got his RCA card in 1953. He worked many rodeos all over the country and Canada from 1950 until retiring in 1972. He worked for the top rodeo producers including Beutler Brothers, Jim Shoulders, Casey Tibbs, Reg Kesler, Tommy Steiner, Harry Knight and Homer Todd. He received the Andy Womack Memorial Award given by Karen Vold at the 2000 Rodeo Clown Reunion. He was featured at the Oklahoma Centennial Parade in 2007 along with Clem McSpadden, Jim Hill and Bennie Beutler as rodeo notables. He kept attending rodeos, cowboy reunions, National Finals Rodeos, rodeo clown reunions, and more, until his health would not permit it. He was predeceased by his wife, Jackie Outhier Cornish; his parents; and daughter, Donna Kay Cornish. He is survived by his daughters, Shawna (Dean) Pitman and husband; Jacquetta (Brett) Perry; grandchildren, Madison Rhoads and Cody Perry, and great granddaughter, Kinsley Grace Rhoads. Memorials in Cornish’s name may be sent to: Hospice Circle of Love, 314 S. 1st St., Enid, Okla., 73701; and Wakomis Christian Church, or the Rodeo Historical Society at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

PASSAGES

MATTHEW CARL MOSHER

PRCA bareback rider Matthew Carl Mosher

passed away June 2. He was 44.

Funeral services were held on June 10 for

longtime PRCA member Matthew Carl Mosher, who left us all too soon at the age of 44 on June 2, in Boyero, Colo. He was known far and wide for being a great friend who always looked for ways to encourage everyone around him.

Mosher

He was born to William and Carlene Mosher on Aug. 6, 1979, and grew up on his family’s ranch near Karval, Colo., with his three siblings who formed an incredible bond that kept them extremely close throughout his life. The four Mosher kids shared an enthusiasm for rodeo at a young age that became a lifelong passion. Matt’s family meant everything to him, and he reveled in their successes and would move heaven and earth to be there for them at the drop of a cowboy hat. Mosher had a dream of becoming one of the best bareback riders in the world from as far back as he could remember. He first started riding bucking horses when he was 12 years old and won numerous rodeos to rise to the top of multiple youth rodeo associations. In 1998, he started competing in pro rodeos and went on to win over $104,501 throughout his decade-long career. He became one of the best at spurring barebacks, winning the PRCA Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo average title in 2004 to qualify for the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho. The following season, he had 90-point rides twice in one month – at Logandale, Calif., on Growney’s Sock Dancer, and at Guymon, Okla., on Pete Carr’s Riverboat Annie. He also became the Guymon Pioneer Days Champion in 2005, when he set the arena record that he held for over 18 years. Mosher retired from riding bucking horses in 2010 only to have a comeback in 2014 when the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo became an invitational. He once again had a 90-point ride this time on Burch’s Pin Ball Girl in the shootout round to become the reserve bareback champion. Mosher met his future wife, Rose, in 2001, and they married in 2005 before sharing just shy of 19 wonderful years together. They had two children who, as Matt would say, were not the “most” important thing but the “only” important thing in their lives. Ashlyn Mosher (15) was the darling of his eye and his “tom” cowboy as she loves everything to do with cattle and horses. Spencer Mosher (12) made him so proud for being a tough and handy cowboy that works hard at taking care of his animals and shows the same care for

WORD SEARCH ANSWERS S I BCDPCCUKBAPT I I IKBGS HZECUOTXTAMGDNNCSNQSG AZFLOIDKREPOROCYAJQXH DOOGYLL IBFSDSGKLRAPER MNXQSQTYUIZNCE J F IXVON AOQKDFOOVPHQWVKWEWUCS YTNKXMTYNOALHNKTUJQJN F IVFQKHL JKGIABEDGPEWU I ZCLDUINRCEUEUSOOEVHP EZ J PRVOFAEOLQVKGNTWKC LOUSPTOSLJNOLKXTRFRAP DPTNLKEEXUB I JYETOBYXT MYLOPYCWANHZETRVIMPEG QNCMTFKKICCXXTZONHZ J F CADESTATONMQVCSYUHWVH FTWL JDSTRUXNESSRJXOYN ZTZCPUPSREGGIRDBELAKE Y IQEDCOMKJ JCYZBUAKBVE NRXLTHGIRWRELTATSDCWM QB JODOCHAHFATX I IMTROC KUHCNAWYBLOKHLAUNWVVR

ProRodeo.com

ProRodeo Sports News 6/21/2024

80