Jake Johnson Dearing, Jr.

Jake “Bud” Dearing, a lifelong rancher, hunter, fisherman and Marine, died on Friday, June 24, 2022. He was 92 years old. Born Jake Johnson Dearing, Jr. to Bessie and Jake Dearing in 1930, Dearing soon became a ranch hand on his family’s Aledo cattle ranch. Dearing, a founding member of the National Cutting Horse Association, once said: “If it ain’t got hair or hooves, I don’t know nothing about it.” At 22, Dearing borrowed a horse, rope and saddle and entered the 1952 Camp Pendleton Rodeo. He returned to Aledo with a new title: Rodeo Champion. Two months later, Dearing was transferred to the 1st Marine Division in Korea and assigned as a machine gunner. Six months later, enemy fire left 27 holes in his body. Seven months later, he was told he’d never walk again while recovering in a military hospital. But those who knew Bud know he didn’t abide by anyone’s rules but his own. His injuries prematurely ended his rodeo career, but he continued ranching (and walking) for the next 70+ years. Dearing was a skilled marksman and hunter. In 1993 at Garren Ranch outside of Van Horn, Texas—where he hunted for 50 years—he took a 181-point Mule deer. Then, in 2007 a 188-point white-tailed buck on his own ranch in Mingus, Texas. His home is decorated with bucks, elk, a bobcat and even a six-foot rattlesnake. The fifth-generation Texan is survived by his wife, Betsy Dearing (82); sister, Betsy Dearing Browder (94); daughter, Melissa Krause (56); son, Dan Dearing (55); his grandchildren, Bianca Krause (32), and Gage Krause (25). His funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 30, 2022 at First United Methodist Church of Gordon with burial immediately following at New Gordon Cemetery.