2025 ProRodeo Hall of Fame Class Announced

By Ann Bleiker

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – While most American’s know April 15 as Tax Day, the following individuals will forever remember April 15, 2025, as the day they got the biggest lifetime refund any rodeo personality could dream of as they received the call to join the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025, marking the 46th annual induction. A total of 11 will be inducted, including two representatives from the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) on July 12.

Joyce (Burk) Loomis Kernek, the 1970 WPRA World Champion, will be inducted into the WPRA Barrel Racing category, while Pam Minick, will be inducted as a WPRA Notable. Kernek and Minick will join the following on the PRCA side – Stran Smith (tie-down roping), Jeff Collins (bareback riding), Steve Purcella (team roping), Mack Altizer (rodeo producer), Harley Tucker (stock contractor), Skipper Voss (contract personnel), Tom Miller (notable), RTR Little Willy (timed event horse), Livermore Stockman’s Rodeo (rodeo committee). Red Steagall will also be honored with the Ken Stemler Pioneer Award during the Cowboy Ball on July 11.

Kernek and Minick hold the distinction of first being crowned Miss Rodeo America and then winning a WPRA World Title. Kernek, born in Silver City, N.M., was named Miss Rodeo America in 1963 (Joyce Shelley), 10 years prior to Minick and then won the WPRA World Barrel Racing World Title in 1970.

“I am just thrilled and never expected this,” stated Kernek, who currently resides in Davis, OK. “Rodeo has offered me every opportunity that I have had in life. It was my great love. I loved the competition, the people, the whole thing. When I was a little girl growing up, in the mountains of New Mexico, I used to dream of going to rodeos especially after seeing the Price sisters (Florence and Sherry – previous inductees) in the Western Horseman that was a dream I had. This is truly an amazing honor.”

Kernek made headlines throughout the 1970 season, beginning the season ranked No. 1 and 12 months and countless miles and runs later, ending in that same spot. She did so aboard a horse named War Leo Dude.

“We won the first rodeo of the year, which at that time was, I believe, St. Paul, Minnesota,” noted Kernek. “I think he (War Leo Dude) was the only one in WPRA history to win the first rodeo of the year and the last and lead the entire season.”

Kernek and Dude were the first to surpass $10,000 in earnings in a single WPRA season.  Kernek chose a different approach to the grueling 10 days at the NFR.

“Dude was just five and he had run quite a bit during the season,” Kernek explains.  “So, I borrowed Donna Patterson’s horse Engle for the finals, and I ran each of them five runs, alternating horses each night.”

What may have appeared a risky proposition ended with both an NFR average title and the World title.  With NFR earnings of $812 (after paying a $100 entry fee), Kernek was the GRA’s wealthiest champion at the time.

Prior to 1970, Kernek had already made a name for herself, winning GRA/WPRA world titles in 1968 and 1969 in the flag race and ribbon roping. Dude showed his versatility as well, serving as her then husband Barry’s (Burk) steer wrestling horse. Dude helped Kernek claim the All-Around champion title at the Duncan Girls Rodeo. She served on the WPRA Board of Directors from 1969-1972.

After her marriage ended with Burk, she married World Champion NRHA Bob Loomis where she expanded her clinician footprint into Brazil. In fact, in 2011 she was inducted into the Brazil Trainers Association Hall of Fame. Together they developed the Loomis gag bit used by many rodeo competitors today. In 1998, she married George Kernek, a professional baseball player, who passed away in 2022.

Minick, who currently resides in Argyle, Texas, is considered one of the most recognized women in the equine world. From being named Miss Rodeo America in 1973 (Pam Martin), to winning the WPRA breakaway roping world title in 1982, to serving on the WPRA Board of Directors for 17 years and continuing her impact on the sport in front of the camera in a multitude of roles including serving as a great role model for the women in the sport today, no woman has made a bigger impact in the rodeo world than Pam Minick.

“I am just speechless, which doesn’t happen very often,” stated Minick upon learning of her induction. “I always think of myself as the person that cheers on the people that go into the Hall of Fame, not a Hall of Famer myself.

“For me doing what I do and being recognized like this is the icing on the cake, because everything I do is because I love it.”

Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, she and her sister, Lynn, were raised on five acres of land but her family didn’t own a horse. When Minick was nine and her sister was seven, they decided they wanted some horses to ride. After their mother acquired two palomino horses (Rebel and Rio) for $300 each, they learned to ride at the local 4-H club.

Minick proved a quick study becoming the first woman awarded the Nevada Cowboy Association’s Rookie of the Year title. After high school, she planned to go to UNLV, but before she could go to her first class, she was named Miss Rodeo Nevada at the state fair in Reno. Two months later, she was crowned Miss Rodeo America. As the youngest Miss Rodeo America, she hit the road in 1973 to represent the sport.

Already accustomed to the demands of rodeo travel and the public relations work she was doing for one of the hotels, Minick took to making public appearances and promoting rodeo like a pro. In 1976, Minick was asked to join rodeo superstars Donnie Gay, Larry Mahan and Jim Shoulders to cover the live rodeo broadcasts on CBS—one of just three television networks at the time when it wasn’t unusual for 1.2 million people to tune in.

While pursuing her career as a TV personality in rodeo she remained competitive turning most of her focus to the roping end but also working to advance women in rodeo by serving on the WPRA Board of Directors. She served as an At Large Director from 1978-1980 before taking on a bigger role as the WPRA Vice President serving alongside Jimmie Munroe from 1980 through the 1994 season.

She won the WPRA Breakaway Roping world title in 1982 and was a 16-time qualifier for the WPRA World Finals where she also competed in team roping. She was also the first woman to be granted a PRCA Announcer card.

She is a natural with a microphone and has hosted more than 1,000 television shows on ESPN, TNN, NBC, CBS, The Outdoor Network, RFD-TV and The Cowboy Channel. These include rodeo, equestrian, country music shows and the famous Rose Bowl Parade. In 1994, Minick co-announced the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, becoming the first women to announce a major professional rodeo. She also interviewed many world champions at the National Finals Rodeo.

“I loved being a competitor, I love being a broadcaster, I love my job in supporting organizations like the WPRA and working at Billy Bob’s. Nothing I’ve ever done has felt like a job and that’s how I’ve stayed energized for 70 years,” stated Minick.

She will join her husband, Billy Minick, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2018 in the stock contractor category.

“The Hall of Fame has been so special to me, throughout my lifetime, and that’s why, when I was asked to join the board a few years ago, I jumped at the opportunity, because I think it’s something that every person that rodeos should plan on giving back to that organization,” said Minick. “It’s just an amazing collection of great rodeo history and a beautiful, beautiful building, but it’s where people find out about our sport and the heritage.

“To be included with the people in there and to get the call from Jimmie Munroe, who I served for so many years on the board with is just very special. I just hope that I make people in the rodeo industry proud for what I’ve done in the past and what I hope to due in the future.”

The WPRA first began inducting members to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017 and since that time a total of 16 members (including this year’s class) have been inducted along with two world champion horses (doesn’t include Scamper as he was inducted in 1996).

Full information on the PRCA inductees can be found at www.prorodeo.com.

The 2025 ProRodeo Hall of Fame Inductions are scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. MT on July 12 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Editor’s Note: The information enclosed in this release is courtesy of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) for media use. However, if you reprint any of the following information verbatim in your publication, or if you read it verbatim on a radio broadcast, please mention that the information is courtesy of the WPRA.

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