Elenor "Sissy" Thurman (March 29, 1934 – October 2, 1968), is a National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame 1975 inductee.[1] She was also inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1978.[2]

Life

Elenor Sissy Thurman was born Eleanor Marie Regini in Galveston, Texas, on March 29, 1934. Thurman was married to Doug Thurman until her death.[3][4] Thurman started riding horses at age 5. She competed in her first barrel race at 11. Thurman was a rodeo queen at some nearby rodeo and stock shows. Prior to starting down the rodeo path, she was a tap dancer. She also taught tap dancing.[1]

Career

In her time, she was one of the top-ranked and fastest barrel racers in the country. She set the fastest time in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and held that record for a time. She held barrel racing clinics. She held the position of barrel racing director in the Girl's Rodeo Association (the predecessor to the Women's Professional Rodeo Association).[1] The GRA was founded in 1948. The foundation occurred one year after the first all-girls rodeo, which took place in Amarillo, Texas. She took advantage of her barrel racing experience while she was director to further develop opportunities for all who followed her footsteps.[5]

Thurman first competed in the time when barrel racing was a 1940s-era "paid performance" of "Ranch Girl" event. But as her career evolved, the sport developed into true competition that established itself as a real rodeo event.[5] When she was 34-years-old, Thurman was a nine-time qualifier of the NFR and was ranked second in the World Standings. This was the same year that she was killed in an automobile accident.[6]

Death

In 1968, Thurman accepted a ride from another rodeo family, last name Lewis. They were headed her way from a performance in Little Rock, Arkansas, to rodeo slack in Waco, Texas. On October 2, at 1:15 a.m, the Lewis vehicle slammed into an overturned 18-wheeler. The wreck killed Thurman, and some of the Lewis family, along with two barrel racing horses.[6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Elenor (Sissy) Thurman". Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Museum. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Inductees". Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Elenor Sissy Thurman". Find A Grave. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Tribute for Douglas Thurman". Hillier Funeral Home. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Broyles, Janell (January 15, 2006). "Barrel Racing". The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 9781404205437. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Tragic Day in Barrel Racing". Barrel Horse News. August 23, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Ardmore Daily Ardmoreite Newspaper Archives, October 3, 1968". newspaperarchive.com. October 3, 1968. Retrieved October 11, 2019.

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