HAROLD JARRARD
August 23, 2018
Funeral services for Harold Jarrard, 99 year old lifetime Kaycee resident who passed away quietly Thursday afternoon at his ranch East of Kaycee, will be held Thursday, August 30th at 2:00 p.m. in the Harold Jarrard Park Rodeo Arena with Bob Ruby officiating. Visitation will be held at the Harness Funeral Home Chapel on Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and on Thursday at the Harold Jarrard Park Building from 10:00 a.m. until noon.
Donations may be made in Harold’s memory to the Hoof Prints of the Past Museum or the Harold Jarrard Park in care of the Harness Funeral Home at 351 N. Adams.
Online condolences may be made at www.harnessfuneralhome.com
Charles Harold Jarrard was born on June 11, 1919 in Kaycee, Wyoming to Charles and Phairis Jarrard. He grew up on the North Fork of Powder River and started his education at the Dawson School and later went in Kaycee and attended school. Harold began riding broncs as a very young man, breaking horses for neighboring ranchers in and around Kaycee. When he was seventeen he, along with a cousin, Emery Dawson, used his riding skills to rodeo in several states. He achieved his ultimate goal of reaching cowboy’s Shangri-la in the 1920’s in Texas. It was on the famed Matador Land and Cattle Company Ranch in Texas that he followed a roundup wagon with a crew of twenty-two men, gathering, branding, and leading wild cattle into holding pastures along with continuing to ride broncs. He credits his grandfather and father for his inherited natural ability with horses. He was married to Katherine Newton in 1938 and they had five children. They were later divorced and Harold met Pat Murphy who came to Wyoming, from Fresno, for a summer to cook for her uncle on the TTT Ranch. Pat and Harold were married in July of 1952 in Modesto, California and they made their home west of Casper where they worked on the Ben Roberts Ranch. They moved to Buffalo for a short time before moving to the J Bar U Ranch West of Kaycee. In 1960 they moved to the family ranch west of Kaycee. Pat passed away in October of 2010 and Harold continued living on the ranch until his death.
Harold became a legend and was known as one of the greatest cowboy’s alive. He was happiest when he was horseback and behind a bunch of cattle or in the arena picking up bucking horses. He wanted his cows fat and his horses broncy. Harold loved to tell stories of the past. He enjoyed dancing and visiting with friends or people he just met. Harold was always up for family dinners or gatherings. In 1996 Harold received the Bradford Brinton Top Hand award in 1997 he was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. In 2015 he was inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame. Harold was a Johnson County Commissioner for twelve years. He developed the Powder River Protective Association and as a young man worked for the Wyoming Livestock Association as a stock detective.
He is survived by four sons, Sonny Jarrard and his wife Sue of Kaycee, Roy Jarrard and his wife Kathleen of Casper, Tom Jarrard of Riverton, Wyoming and Murph Jarrard of Las Vegas, Nevada; one daughter Tami Jarrard and her husband Neil Johnston of Glenrock, Wyoming; nineteen grandchildren and numerous great and great-great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife one sister Marjorie Limmer, two daughters, Madeline and Lindsay, one son Dick, one grandson and one granddaughter.
