Page 96 - Erath

In 1979 Isora was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, established in Hereford, now in a magnifcent building in Ft. Worth. In 2000 she was added to the impressive list of those that have enjoyed a lifetime of living the heritage of Western life. She was awarded a bronze plaque in the Walk of Fame in Stephenville. In 2004 she was inducted into the Reeves County Cowboy Hall of Fame at Pecos.

After her 100th birthday in 2005, Isora boarded a jet with her nephew and few to Florida to vacation with her 82-year-old sister.

“I just love to fy,” she said. “The vacation was a wonderful two-week visit with the only other remaining member of my parents’ family. Before I left Stephenville, my birthday dinner was Mexican food by my request.

I really like spicy food and thank goodness I can still eat everything. I just have a lot to be thankful for. Dub went on and left me and then I lost a daughter to cancer, and that was really hard. I appreciate the three granddaughters I have and the 6 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren. My granddaughter Lee cooks and cleans for me and takes me wherever I want to go. My two other granddaughters, Theresa and Mary are always here anytime I need anything. I am so grateful to live in my own house with my cat and have my family close.

“I’ve sure had my fun in life. I wouldn’t change a thing. Lee is such a good cook, and I can eat anything I want. I haven’t been sick much; my hearing and eyesight are not what they used to be, but I can still get around all

right. I’ve got wonderful memories but all my old friends are gone.”

Isora Young, calf-roping champion, at 105, the oldest member of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, got up from the big wooden rocker on her expansive front porch. She reached for the metal walker nearby and stood up perfectly straight. There was no sign of stoop to those shoulders. Wisps of hair from her crown of white, moved slightly with the afternoon breeze. Her green eyes seemed to focus somewhere back in time and she smiled.

“I sure liked ranching and rodeoing,” she said. “I quit when I was nearly 50 but if I’d known I was going to live this long…” Her voice trailed off and she turned to go inside. “When I think about it, it’s hard to believe.”  ECL

In 1939, Isora met I.W. “Dub” Young, a rodeo cowboy. They were married and made rodeos together, traveling all over the western states and fnally

buying a ranch in the Huckabay community near Stephenville.