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ANRS & Rodeo Exes
129 Ringneck Drive
Sanger, Texas 76266
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The ANRS & Rodeo Exes Association is an independent non-profit, charitable organization recognized
by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as an eligible 501(c)(3) entity. The mission of the Association
is to promote Sul Ross State University and to raise funds to be disbursed to deserving Agricultural
students and rodeo participants by the University. Neither the Board, nor the membership, of the
Association has any part in the selection of scholarship recipients. Membership to the Association
is open to all individuals interested in the mission and activities of the Association.
Membership is $50 annually. New or renewal memberships can be sent to:
ANRS & Rodeo Exes Treasurer
129 Ringneck Drive
Sanger, Texas 76266
Additional information regarding the Association can be obtained from the same address.
Ira Roy Akers was born June 13, 1933 in San Antonio, Texas to Jess and Leona Akers. At the young age of six years old, Ira participated in his father's weekend rodeo. He rode a trick horse that was trained to buck on command. His father billed him as "The World's Youngest Cowboy". Ira continued his rodeo career, advanced to the high school level, and then took his talents on to college.
Ira left San Antonio to attend Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. While competing for the rodeo team at Sul Ross, he won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) Bull Riding Championship in 1953. Ira also won Third Place in the Bareback Bronc Riding, which helped the Sul Ross team win Second overall at the college finals. The following year, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, Ira placed Third in the Bareback Bronc Riding and Third in the Bull Riding, giving him a Fifth place for the All-Around Champion. In 1954, Ira married his college sweetheart, Gayle Dyer from Baird, Texas. He then transferred to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas to be closer to his family.
In 1955 at Lake Charles, Louisiana, Ira made history by winning the Championship in three events: Bareback Bronc Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, and Bull Riding. These wins gave him the All-Around Cowboy Championship. Ira is still the only contestant to ever win four event titles. In 1956, at Colorado Springs, Colorado, Ira won the championship title in the Saddle Bronc Riding, Bull Riding, and Second in the Bareback Riding. This earned Ira the Men's All-Around Cowboy Championship and gave Sam Houston State University men's team the Championship.
Ira continued to compete at a professional level, winning big rodeos such as Madison Square Garden, San Antonio and many others. By this time, he and Gayle had 2 children and one on the way. He purchased a ranch in Clyde, Texas and began farming and ranching, In 1958, Ira, along with Jim Shoulders, Neal Gay, D.J. (Cajun Kid) Guadin, Harry Tompkins, and Bob Grant started the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. In 1960, after bucking off a bull at Cheyenne Frontier Days, Ira's ankle was broken when a bull spun back and stepped on him. The injury prompted Ira to hang up his ropes and riggings and settle into his busy life as a family man and rancher. In 1970, Ira joined ventures with his Mesquite Rodeo partner, Harry Tompkins, and started a cattle dairy in Dublin, Texas.
Tragedy struck the Akers family on February 11, 1974. Ira was called out to help put out a range fire near his ranch in Clyde, Texas. An unmarked truck that contained nitro, used for blasting wells, exploded as the firefighters worked nearby. Ira and three other men died that day due to the blast. He let behind his wife, Gayle and four children: Ira Jr. (Iky), Barbara, Brenda, and Archie.
At a ceremony during the 1988 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ira was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum housed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1999, Ira was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Belton, Texas. As a fallen volunteer fireman his name can also be found on the Texas State Capital Volunteer Fireman Memorial.
Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor which can be bestowed on an individual by the ANRS & Rodeo Exes Association. This honor is for ANRS graduates or friends and recognizes those who have represented the Association, the ANRS Department, or Sul Ross State University with distinction through their personal and/or professional achievements which brought honor to our University. Nominations may be submitted by any member at any time. The ANRS & Rodeo Exes Board of Directors will periodically review nominations and determines inductees into the Hall of Fame. Inductions are not necessarily held annually, but rather when a sufficient pool of inductees is obtained. The induction ceremony is at the Annual Reunion held the last weekend of July in Alpine.
Make a nomination for a deserving individual for induction into the ANRS & Rodeo Exes Hall of Fame!
There is certainly room among these fine individuals for additional honorees. Please give some consideration to nominating a deserving individual for induction into the Hall of Fame.
