Lewistown native and pro rodeo legend Bud Munroe dies in Texas at age 70
Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer Bud Munroe, who passed away April 9 in Waco, Texas, called rodeo "a natural extension of the Western way of life" when he was inducted into the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2014.
A 12-time qualifier for the National Final Rodeo between 1977 and 1988, the 1986 PRCA World Saddle Bronc Champion and 2007 Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer was a patient in a Waco hospital when the end came. He was 70 years old.
In his seven decades on this Earth, he gave back to his beloved sport as much as it gave to him ... and more.
Bud Munroe was born Dan O. Munroe January 12, 1952 in Lewistown. He attended Lewistown schools, and would eventually graduate from Montana State University in Bozeman with a degree in agricultural business. Along the way, he won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's saddle bronc championship in 1975, finished second in the NIRA All-Around standings while leading the Bobcats to the 1975 NIRA Team Championship.
In August of 2004, Munroe told the Ellensburg Daily Record about his rodeo career: "Rodeo is just a natural extension of the Western way of life. It's a very pure thing, just you and the animal. I think it's ingrained in you, if you come up around it so much that it's a part of who you are, and you never lose the love for it.
"At least I never have."
Of the 12 times Munroe qualified for the NFR, he finished in the Top 5 six times, including winning the 1980 reserve world championship by beating out fellow cowboy and Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer Clint Johnson by $458.
"Bud was a fierce rodeo competitor and a real good person, a real solid guy," Johnson told Pro Rodeo News. "He was a good Christian man, a good family man. I snuck under him for a title, and he snuck under me for one (in 1986) and there were no hard feelings from either one of us. "Bud was a fun guy and a real planner. When I rodeoed with Bud, I didn't have to worry about anything but showing up and riding because he would decide where we would eat, where we were going and how we would get there. It was all good and he was good at planning. I felt like he was an underrated bronc rider. Nobody looked better on a nice horse, and he could ride a rank horse as well.
"This a tough day for me and not just me. He had a lot of friends."
By the time Bud Munroe hung up his chaps following the 1989 Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, Monroe had won the 1980 Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals, the Texas Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals three straight years between 1981-83 and once again in 1985, and won the Texas Circuit year-end title four times (1982-83, 1986-87), then split the National Circuit Finals Saddle Bronc title with Clay Jowers in 1987.
He had just won the short round at Cheyenne on July 30, 1989, the same day another Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer, bull rider Lane Frost, died in the Cheyenne arena.
"He went to Cheyenne right after our daughter was born and when he came home, he thought he was going to retire and he never got on another one," his wife of 41 years, Jimmie, told Pro Rodeo News.
Bud Munroe was the first cowboy inducted into the Montana State University Athletic Hall of Fame, and was also inducted into the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame, the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame, and the PRCA Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, the latter in 2007.
After calling it quits in the arena, Munroe went on to serve the PRCA on different committees and boards. He received the PRCA John Justin Committeeman of the Year Award in 1999 for his long-standing service and dedication to the Heart O' Texas Rodeo Committee in Waco. He served on the Heart O' Texas Committee for more than 30 years and served as chairman of the board several different times on its rodeo committee.
And he was devoted to the development of his sports within the PRCA, as its saddle bronc director and on the PRCA Properties Board for more than 20 years, and on the PRCA Grievance Committee.
"I would like my husband to be remembered for his devotion and love for the sport of professional rodeo," Jimmie Munroe said. "He displayed that in and out of the arena. After a successful career that included 12 NFRs and a world championship, he spent his remaining years giving back to the sport that had given him so much."
Among Bud Munroe's survivors are his wife of 41 years, Jimmie (Gibbs) Munroe, and their daughter Tassie. He was laid to rest April 13 in Waco. Services were entrusted to Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funerals and Cremations in Waco.
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Munroe remembered as fierce rodeo competitor, loving family man
