ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 21, 2018

PASSAGES

OF 2018

DAN ACKLEY 1/23/1947 – 10/1/2018

standings and won the NFR average in 1970 with 664 points on 10 head. TEIGEN FINNERTY 8/9/1996 – 4/28/2018 Finnerty, a PRCA steer wrestler, tie-down roper and team roper, excelled in many activities, including rodeo, wrestling, football, welding, academics, and other community and school events. Jerry Leon Green, a PRCA Gold Card member, competed in tie-down roping and team roping. Green joined the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1962 and placed at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days, the Greeley (Colo.) Stampede and Rodeo de Santa Fe (N.M.). He qualified for two Mountain States Circuit Finals and was the first Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series tie-down roping JERRY LEON GREEN 7/5/1941 – 3/1/2018 Team roper Rickey Green was a 10-time qualifier for the NFR (1977, 1978, 1982-89) and won the average while roping with Charles Pogue in 1988. Green loved the challenge of roping steers quickly, often before they were completely turned off by the header. It is said that the “Crossfire” rule in team roping was implemented in part because of his roping style. He trained seven NFR team roping horses and an AQHA Superior Team Roping Horse. Since 1991, Green focused on being a team roping instructor. CHRIS HARRIS JR. 10/14/1976 – 3/21/2018 Harris qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo six times between 1998 and 2008. The bareback rider joined the PRCA in 1995 and qualified for the NFR in 1998-2000 and 2006-08. He finished third in the world standings in 1998 and 2000, while placing a career-best second in the NFR average in 1998. He had $870,953 in career earnings. CHUCK HENSON 2/4/1931 – 8/11/2018 The rodeo clown/bullfighter was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1995. In the mid-1950s, he traded his boots and hat for baggy pants and a red wig, and his clown/bullfighter career took off, lasting into the 1980s. Henson worked the 1967 and 1971 National Finals Rodeo. He served on the PRCA’s Board of Directors as contract member director from 1974-77. He was PRCA Clown of the Year in 1977. champion in 1984. RICKEY GREEN 7/4/1957 – 10/10/2018

Russia, Germany, Sweden and Italy. BUNKY BOGER 5/28/1930 – 9/19/2018

Ackley was a three-time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo (1977-79) in steer wrestling. In 1978 he placed third in the average and third in the world standings. He and his wife, Judy, were inducted into the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2010 for their work as participants, officials, volunteers and contestants at the Ellensburg Rodeo each year since the 1970s. JIMMIE Y. ADAMS 2/12/1931 – 8/16/2018 Adams was a trick rider and trick roper in the PRCA. He was a retired dispatcher and rodeo performer. Adams served in the U.S. Army during the KoreanWar and was a PRCA Gold Card member. He appeared on TV shows and movies, performed for the troops, and traveled across the United States and overseas. VERN (BUTCH) DEAN BARRETT 5/22/1947 – 10/29/2017 Barrett was a PRCA steer roper. His passion was ranching and competing as a steer roper in various rodeos, including the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo each summer. He broke horses, enjoyed bucking bulls and living the “cowboy” life. Batteate was a member of the Cowboys’ Turtle Association. He broke horses for Harry Rowell of Rowell Rodeo before becoming a bronc rider. He later joined his father in the cattle ranching business, which merged into Batteate Livestock Transportation Co. Becker was a six-time qualifier for the National Finals Steer Roping (1965, 1968-69, 1973-75). He won the average in 1973 with a 197.7-second time on eight head. His best finish in the steer roping world standings was fourth in 1974. Tie-down roping was his best event, but he took a turn at riding bareback horses and saddle bronc horses, and steer wrestling. At 30, he began steer roping. HOWARD F. BEISSINGER 5/16/1923 – 2/6/2018 A Gold Card member, Beissinger, produced rodeos throughout the Midwest in partnership with Don Hight. Beissinger is a member of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame and the Butler County (Ohio) Sports Hall of Fame. He won the Hambletonian, America’s greatest trotting classic, three times, earning the nickname “Hambo Howard.” He enjoyed international fame and raced across the United States and Canada, as well as at tracks in EARL (BUD) BATTEATE 11/20/18 – 3/28/2018 EDWARD A. BECKER 4/24/1929 – 1/8/2018

Boger was a bull rider, steer wrestler and longtime bullfighter/rodeo clown. His rodeo career started in 1946 and went into the late 1970s. Among his comedy acts were Jip the Border Collie (putting ducks in a sack), Collie the Dog andHonest John, a miniature Brahma. One of his major accomplishments was training a buffalo named Cody. They traveled to numerous venues and starred on television shows and commercials. He traveled across the U.S. working rodeos and then went to Canada to work for Reg Kesler Rodeo Company. WILL BYLER 4/21/1995 – 11/4/2018 Byler, a PRCA Permit holder, died the morning after his wedding when the helicopter he and his bride, Bailee Ackerman Byler, were in crashed. Byler was a steer wrestler and competed at Sam Houston (Texas) State University. ROBERT (BOB) WAYNE CHRISTOPHERSEN 3/21/1950 – 6/24/2018 Christophersen was a six-time steer wrestling qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo (1971-75, 1977). He won the NFR average in 1971 and 1975. He finished a career-best sixth in the world standings in 1971 and 1972. Christophersen was inducted into the Iowa High School Cowboy Hall of Fame, the National College Athletic Hall of Fame, the Montana PRCAHall andWall of Fame, and the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. ZACHARY DEWAYNE CRAIG 10/1/1981 – 6/10/2018 A PRCA stock contractor with Championship Pro Rodeo, Craig lived in Dickinson, N.D. Craig provided bulls and horses to rodeos around the region. Craig cherished time with his grandparents and loved every moment he shared with his sons. A three-time NFR qualifier in bareback riding (1982-84), Dishman was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2015. He finished 11th in the PRCA world standings in 1982 and ’84 and was 13th in 1983. In addition to his NFR trips, he won rodeos in Houston and El Paso, Texas, and was the reserve champion in San Antonio. He also won the Texas Circuit year-end bareback riding title in 1984 and 1986. JOHN WALTER EDWARDS 12/9/1941 – 6/25/2018 Edwards qualified for the National Finals Rodeo seven times (1965-71) in bareback riding. He finished a career-best third in the 1966 world TIM (MONK) DISHMAN 3/18/1960 – 7/27/2018

ProRodeo Sports News 12/21/2018

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