Cleo L. Hearn

33 YEAR PARTNER, FRIEND, MENTOR, HERO & HISTORICAL LEGEND

May 3, 1939 - November 9, 2025

Cleo L. Hearn, 86, of Lancaster, Texas died on November 9, 2025.

He was born in Seminole, OK, May 3, 1939 to Doc Hearn and Gertrude Curry Hearn and met his first black cowboy when he was 9-years-old. He decide then he wanted to be a professional rodeo cowboy. He joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) in 1959; served in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Honor Guard from 1961-1963, was the first African American to go to college on a Rodeo Scholarship 1963 and graduated from Langston University with a Business degree. He went to work for Ford Motor Company in their management training program after doing a commercial for Ford Tractor and worked for them 33 years before retiring as a Texas Zone Manager.

He was the first African American to win a National Tie-Down Calf Roping Championship in 1970 at the National Western in Denver, CO. Along with Black Cowboys Bud Bramwell, Marvel Rogers, Calvin Greeley, Rufus Green, Sr., Myrtis Dightman and others, he produced his first Black Rodeo for 10,000 youth in Harlem, New York in 1971. Cleo produced is first annual Texas Black Invitational Rodeo in 1985 as a fundraiser for the African American Museum Dallas which continues to this day. He changed the name to Cowboys of Color Rodeos in 1995 to be inclusive of all cultures, created a 7-City Tour (Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Oklahoma City and Tulsa) in the early 2000’s, and joined the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2010. He was a proud Professional Rodeo Cowboy finally hanging up his rope at 79-years-old and after 50 years producing rodeos to “educate you while we entertain you.”

In addition to, international Western Legend Mr. Black Rodeo, among his many awards, Cleo received his Star on the Texas Trail of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards and the Lane Frost Award, was inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. His adult hometown Lancaster, Texas proclaimed May 10th as Cleo Hearn Day to be celebrated annually.

Cleo was preceded in death by his father Doc, his mother Gertrude, his brothers Calvin Curry Jr. and Lucious Curry, his first wife Verna Hearn and his son of the heart Rodeo Announcer Kevin Woodson. He is survived by brother Charles Land, his second wife Wanda Henderson Hearn and her five children: Lisa J. Williams, Toni Williams-Allen, Nicole Jackson, John E. Haney II and Troy L. Allen (son-in-law), his four sons with Verna and their wives: Harlan and Vernetta Hearn, Eldon and Lisa Hearn, Robby and Debra Hearn, Wendell and Tiffiney Hearn, numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, great, great grandchildren along with rodeo friends and fans all around the world.

Donations can be made to the Cleo Hearn Scholarship Fund by contacting Liz Lawless, Executive Director of Cowboys of Color Rodeos at 214.931.6567 or cleohearnrodeo@gmail.com.

I will share some additional personal memories from our long rodeo partnership in a future article.

YOU WILL BE GREATLY MISSED MY FRIEND BUT I KNOW YOU ARE RIDING THE LUSH GREEN PASTURES OF HEAVEN WITH YOUR ADOPTED SON KEVIN. BOTH OF YOU IMPACTED THE WORLD IN THE BEST WAYS AND WE WILL CARRY ON YOUR LEGACY!

To our new members welcome. In December I will be back to posting more consistently. Sharing more Historical and Living Legends.

I’ll see you on the trail, Liz