Obit of Merrick, Walter F. - Roger Mills County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Wanda Purcell 19 Mar 2006 Return to Roger Mills County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/rogermills/rogermills.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== ::Cheyenne Cemetery--Cheyenne OK Surnames: Merric, Shinn, Suthers, Moss Originally posted at: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/5YB.2ACE/6702 Walter Merrick, inductee into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Westerns and one of the most colorful and influential Quarter Horse breeders and racehorse men of all time, passed away late Friday evening, February 3, 2006 in his home, surrounded by his family at the age of 94, 3 months and 28 days. Walter was born October 5, 1911 in Wheeler County, Texas to Fannie Lou and John Merrick. Walter's father and 2 grown brothers were ranch hands when Walter, his mother and teenage sister moved into Texola, Oklahoma to begin school. He moved with his parents to Trinchera, Colorado in 1921 where he worked at off job since the age of 10 to supplement the family income. He began chasing wild horses on the open range, breaking them to ride and then selling them for $25 to $50 per head. In 1942 he got his first steady job. While working for a General Store he met the owner of the Butcher Block Ranch and began a career that would span over the next 82 years of innovative and ground breaking territory for the horse industry. His first job was a wrangler in charged of a remuda of 200 head of saddle horses. He moved up by becoming rough string ride where he would take 12 or 15 spoiled horses that neededd some work to make them usable as ranch horses. It was during this time that he vowed that some day he would have some good horses of his own. In 1928, his father's health had deteriorated and his mother asked him to move back to Oklahoma. He returned to the ranch on which he was born and began breaking horses for $10 a head. His father passsed away later that fall and he hired on at the Davis Ranch full time. His father had left a small insurance policy and after the funeral was paid, Walter bought some cattle. While they were branding the calves he was asked what was going to be his brand. He ask one off the hands how many head there were and when they said 14, Walter just put a 14 on them and that brand is still displayed on the Merrick Ranches cattle and horses to this day. Walter met the love of hisw life on the Davis Ranch and was married to Onna Christien Shinn at Erick, Oklahoma on October 6, 1930. They lived on and worked for the Davis Ranch during the depression with their son, Jimmie and Walter's mother. In 1930 Walter began competing in a few week end rodeos and his experience with rough horses made him an accomplished bronc rider. They later moved and lived on ranches near Rush Creek, east of Reydon and the Bradshaws Ranch south of Arnett. In the late 30's he and Tien bough their first quater horse and began a new phase in their lives. He began with match races and later began a racing dynasty that included winning two All- American Futurities and a breeding program that has produced 961 registered American Quarter Horses. The performance horsesw form this group number 575, with 59 holding show points, 25 earning Registers of Merit and seven winning AQHA championship titles. The 552 raching horses he has bred hold 374 Registers of Merit, 12 world championships and earnings of almost $6 million. When he assembled a goup of 4 mares and a stud, the stud was Midnight, Jr. In 1945 he and Leonard Milligan had the first registered Quarter Horse sale in history, and it was with the proceeds from this sale that he purchased his first ranch, the 14 Ranch North of Crawford, Oklahoma where they lived for the next 23 years. In 1967 they moved to Quanah, Texas and then to Sayre where they have lived ever since. Over a period of 50 years, due to the hard work and "family" effort, those 14 original cattle, 5 horses and 1 ranch grew into several thousand cattle, hundreds of head of horses, seven or eightt ranches in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and New Mexico. Walter's lease of Three Bars in 1952 put a little "hybrid vigor" into his breeding program and produced some names such as Bob's Folly, Lenas Bar, Easy Jet, Jet Smooth, Byou Bird and Easy Date to name just a few. He was also a member of the Racing Committee of the American Quarter Horse Asssociation, served two years as president of the Quarter Racing Owners of America, and is past president of the Oklahoma Horse Association and was an honorary VP of the American Quarter Horse Association. His long list of personal honors and awards include being given the "Master Breeder" Award by Oklahoma State University and he became the first horwseman to be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Famed. He was also inducted into the Western Oklahoma all of Fame, the AQHA Hall of Fame, Quarter Racing Hall of Fame, Texas Quarter Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Westerners. The AQHA Racing Council also honored Walter with a Special Achievement Award "for a lifetime of outstanding service and dedication to the development promotion and enhancement of American Quarter Horse Racing." Walter was a member of the Trinity Fellowship and was an avid supporter of the "Camp of Champions' Christian youth rodeo camp and other youth rodeos and activities. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, Tien, 1 son, Jimmy Wayne Merrick, 1 grandson, Kash Ryan Merrick, 2 brothers, 2 sisters and a few good horses. He is survived by 2 daughters and sons-in-law, Lynnie and Buddy Suthers of Sayre, Oklahoma, Donna and Bob Moss of Cheyenne, Oklahoma; 1 son and daughter-in-law, Joe and Sherry Merrick of Sayre; 15 grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends. Services were held Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at 2:00 PM at the Cheyenne School Auditorium officiated by Andy Taylor and Daryle Perry. Burial will be in the Cheyenne Cemetery, Cheyenne, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma under the direction of Rose Chapel Funeral Service, Sayre. Memorials may be made to the Camp of Champions, c/o Trinity Fellowship, POB 452, Sayre, Oklahoma 73662. Cheyenne Star, Chjeyenne, OK 2-Feb-2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Roger Mills Archives http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/rogermills/rogermills.html