Don Fisher, born July 1, 1929 in Meade County, is the Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame Working Cowboy Inductee for 2005.
The oldest child of Roy and Mertile Fisher, Don insists that being a cowboy is all he has ever known. Adopting the skills, manners and dress of a cowboy from his grandfather, Fisher is still rarely seen without his cowboy attire or boots.
Don's brothers, Jimmie and Gene, and his sisters, Velva and Carole, all claim his innate knowledge and love of all animals began as a child. However, Don's true passion has always been horses. His fondness for equine began when his father gave him a bay colt, named Dixie Lou. The filly, with a tell-tale stripe, would become the foundation for Fisher Quarter Horses. Over seven decades later, her bloodline is still present in Don's brood mares.
Learning the skills of calf roping from his uncles, Fisher began to enter rodeos, all over western Kansas and northern Oklahoma. In 1947, Don married his sweetheart Warrenetta Marrs in Meade, Kansas; where the couple raised four sons Ð Steve, Stan, Randy and Bryan. On their family's farm, Don built a small roping arena, along the banks of the Crooked Creek; thus making it easier to practice with his brother and pass along the cowboy tradition to his sons. Over the years, Don, a self-taught livestock producer, worked as a ranch hand and cowboy for several large cattle operations.
In 1972, Don and Warrenetta moved to Richfield, Kansas, where he ran thousands of heads of cattle for over twenty years. After changes occurred in the cattle market, Don went to work for various feed yards. With his vast knowledge of cattle, Don is remembered for always asking, "Did you see any trouble?".
In 1990, Don and Warrenetta moved to Garden City to settle into partial retirement. Never one to remain idle, Don went to work for area feedyards. At over seventy-years old, Don still rides pens, doctors and ships cattle. Spending most of his days in the saddle, Don also works on the family livestock and hay operations, as well as spending endless hours roping with his son and friends.
Instrumental in the development of the Garden City Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Don has served as the group's president and continues to be involved in local events. A lifetime member of the International Feedlot Cowboy Association and the United States Team Roping Association allows him to compete annually in the National Finals in Amarillo, Texas.
Honoring his western lifestyle and hard work, Don has competed annually in the Pro/Celebrity Team Roping competition held between Garden City's Beef Empire Days Rodeo and Dodge City's Roundup Rodeo. Proud of his rodeo and cowboy legacy, those attending Don and Warrenetta's fifty-eighth wedding anniversary got a chuckle when Don exclaimed before having his picture taken, "I won this buckle and I want to show it off."
