Butch Myers, a PRCA Steer Wrestling legend, passed away on July 24 at the age of 78.
Myers had an impressive career in the rodeo world spanning several decades. He started young, winning his first competition at just 11 years old. Over the years, he became a 12-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and claimed the 1980 World Champion Steer Wrestler title.
Myers came from a long line of family members with strong ties to the rodeo scene.
His late wife, Fanchone, was a barrel racer and former Miss Rodeo Kansas. His sons, Rope and Cash, were PRCA standouts, and his daughter, Tygh, was an accomplished all-around rodeo hand. His nephew, Ty Murray, is a legendary ProRodeo Hall of Famer, and his grandson, Quade Hiatt, is a tie-down roper currently ranked 11th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings.
“He was a huge, positive influence and inspiration to me,” Ty Murray told the PRCA. “When I was a kid, I was getting to see him going to the NFR and winning a world championship. The first year I won the all-around (world championship) in 1989, it was between me, him and Clay O’Brien Cooper. Butch was a rodeo cowboy to the core. He was competitively roping calves until the day he died.”
He continued, “I got to see what Butch could do when I was young, I was around 12 years old when he won that world championship, and that just fueled my fire. He tells the story that when he showed me his gold buckle, I told him ‘I can’t wait till I get mine.’ Having that close of an influence was powerful because it is one thing to have heroes you may never meet, but it is another when you have a hero who is a world champion that you get to talk to and he gets to tell you about what he did and what it is like.”
In addition to his rodeo achievements, Myers was also passionate about his education. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University in Fort Collins and later received a master’s degree in agricultural education from Kansas State University.
“He was a man I looked up to and I have still never met a man as mentally strong and physically tough as him,” Meyer’s grandson, Hiatt, said. “[He] made sure that my run was good enough to win out here.”
Butch Myers’ funeral service will take place on Monday, July 29 in Athens, Texas.