Jimmie Clark hadn’t ridden a bull in twenty years when he decided to enter the senior pro rodeo association in 1999. “I wasn’t in as good a shape,” admits Clark. He saw an ad in a magazine about it and wondered if he could still do it. “I went out and got on at a little rodeo in the diggleberries,” recalls the Montana man. “I got tromped, but I entered again in Lamar and Longmont, and started riding the circuit. I went every weekend with a little group that could afford to go down the road.” That group included a certified public accountant and a scientist. They all had one thing in common; they loved the adrenaline rush. “You think you’re twenty again.”

Clark came back to win the Canadian Senior ProRodeo bull riding championship in 2000 and the reserve in 2001. “I broke my pelvis in 2002,” said Clark. “I didn’t know it right away and continued to rodeo for another few months. When I couldn’t take the pain anymore, I finally went to the doctor. I found out I broke my pelvis and they discovered cancer too.”

Clark began his rodeo road at fifteen. “I saw a poster for high school rodeo and entered every event there was.” He settled on bull riding, even though he got bucked off everything at the beginning. “I was pretty small,” he said. “I remember trying to bulldog and this one steer wouldn’t turn its head. He drug me, I lost my boots and got beat up.” The option of roping was never there. “In my part of the world, there wasn’t any team roping. There were no indoor arenas. I rode bulls,” he said. “And in those days, kids never wore chaps, just jeans.”  Clark was raised on Flathead Lake Lodge dude ranch in Montana. He rodeoed and wrestled all through high school, taking the state championship in wrestling. “I was offered scholarships all over the country,” recalls Clark, who ended up at Oregon State. He went to the
Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., but got caught up with some poison oak, which he was deathly allergic to. “That ended my wrestling career.” He transferred back to the University of Montana and received a degree in Economics and Liberal Arts.

While attending college, Clark started smoke jumping for the forest service headquartered in Missoula, Mont. “It was a great summer job,” Clark said. They wouldn’t let him rodeo because of the expense of the training him so he used a pseudonym to compete in rodeo. “When I was at the bottom of the jump list, I’d go rodeo.” That lasted for four years. Clark quit competing in his late twenties. “A friend of mine got killed in Spokane, Wash., and I had just started a family,” he said. “I lost my courage.”

He went to work for Levi Straus in 1969. “When I started, the company was grossing $168 million in volume. Twenty years later, when I quit, the gross volume was $4 billion.” Clark started as a sales rep and ended up in management. “When I first started, Levi had two types of jeans, a coat, and a couple of shirts. When I left, they had 50,000 products to offer.

When Clark left Levi, he went into buying and selling businesses and hotels. His success in business has allowed him to help others. “I don’t care how big you are, you need to get back to your grass roots.” For Clark, that root is rodeo. Now Clark’s mission is to give back to rodeo. “We still need the kids,” he said. “To give them an avenue like rodeo is important. So many families can’t afford to go down the road, so my goal is to get as much money as possible and give it in scholarships to go down the road.” Clark believes rodeo is one of the best sports for kids. He helped put together the Gunnison, Colo. high school rodeo and the first year they made money. “That money is going to the kids to help them go down the road,” he said. Statewide, he is trying to get a medical wagon that goes to all the rodeos so the same EMTs are working with the contestants through the season.

“The good Lord put you down here for a reason, he gives you different talents.” Clark’s talents are focused on auctioneering and fundraising, not only for rodeo, but also for other nonprofits such as Challenge Aspen, based in Aspen, Colo. With a budget of $1.6 million, their mission is to build a ranch for the disabled and their families. The ranch will offer a variety of experiences for the residents as well as bring in a research facility to try out different pieces of equipment from wheelchairs to skis. He has given five years to the project. “Whenever you jump out of an airplane or ride a bull, you could end up disabled,” he admits. “Mostly I implement everyone else’s ideas.” He has a gift for creating an entertainment venue for the audience. His ideas
have included auctioning off teepees and even a man’s hair, which sold for $20,000.

Clark beat the bulls, the fires, and the cancer. He has dedicated his time and talents to helping others beat the odds. “My goal is to give back.”