1931 - 2015
Courtesy ProRodeo.com
and the Branco family
Dan Branco, who was the patriarch of a California family that has competed at the top level of ProRodeo for three generations, passed away Nov. 16 in Chowchilla, Calif., at the age of 84.
He qualified for the National Finals Rodeo nine times as a team roper (1959-64, 1967-68 and 1973) and twice finished among the top three in the average (1962 and 1973), dividing his time between rodeo and operating a 480-acre farm with cotton, corn and alfalfa.
One of his sons, Steve, qualified for the NFR as a team roper in 1983; his grandson Stan went to the 2013 Wrangler NFR as a steer wrestler.
Dan was born on June 18, 1931, in Merced, Calif., to Joseph V. and Clara Branco. He had three brothers and a sister and was raised in Merced, working on various cattle ranches in the early years. He left home in 1946 when he was only 15, managing to rope a little when he wasn’t working.
In 1948 he moved to Livermore and worked for Dr. Root on the Patterson Ranch. While there, he was competing in hackamore classes, and in 1948 he won Livermore, Gilroy and placed at Salinas, earning a total of $2,100 that year, which paid for his first car.
In 1949 he met a girl in Chowchilla at George’s Playhouse/Dance Hall, by the name of Florence Maddalena. Although she was from Chowchilla, Florence was going to dental school in San Francisco. At the time, Dan was living and working in Livermore, and would drive from there to San Francisco to pick her up. They got engaged in 1952 (the story goes that he had to sell a cow and calf to buy her ring). They moved the wedding date up to Aug. 30, 1952 because Dan was drafted. After being discharged from the Army, they made their first home at Cook Land Cattle Co., which is known today as the Triangle T Ranch.
In 1956, their son Steve was born and they moved to Robertson Blvd. Dana Jo was born in 1959 and Larry in 1960. Dan was farming, but cowboying was always his first love. Dan spent many hours in the practice pen and roping arena, teaching, roping and tuning. He enjoyed roping with his sons, and later with his grandsons and daughters-in-law, roping and working horses.
In 1976 Dan started selling liquid supplement, then grew to dry feed and western clothing store and in 2001 sold the feedstore. He and Florence were already traveling to senior rodeos but continued to travel and rodeo, making new friends across the states.
In his nine NFR appearances, Dan roped in 1959 with Harold Mattos; 1960 with Deacon Hobbs; 1961 with his brother Stan Branco; 1962 with Bill Hamilton; 1963 with Dale Smith; 1964 and 1968 with Gary Waller; 1967 with Ron Goodrich; and 1973 with John Wilken.
He and his brother Stan won the Oakdale 10 Steer in 1959, then again in 1960, the first team to win back-to-back. He won the Chowchilla Stampede in 1967 with Ron Goodrich. In 1968 he won Salinas with Gary Waller, and in 1999 he won the Gold Card at Salinas with Norman Dill. He won the Gold Card at Salinas again in 2000, roping with Alan Capurro.
Chowchilla Fair manager John Green wanted to start something at the fairgrounds that he had seen done in Oakdale with a 10 steer the past few years and approached Dan Branco, Jim Looney and George Strathern (who was a fair director at the time), Al Gomes and Sonny Gomes. Everyone decided to have a roping and call it the Chowchilla Western Stampede.
Paul Perry was feeding steers at the Strathern ranch (6 or 7 miles west of Chowchilla) and said they could use his steers, but didn’t have any money, so they decided to drive/herd the steers to town. It was a wet year, and it was raining the day they went to get the steers. The Fresno River went right through the Strathern Ranch and when they got there the steers were on the other side of the river, so they had to swim the river to swim the steers across the river and then herded them to Avenue 18 and followed the railroad tracks to town. When they got to town, Dan and George decided instead of going to the fairgrounds they would go right down main street/Robertson Blvd. to let everyone know they were going to have a roping. The first year they had 67 teams.
Dan lived life on his terms, always with his family in mind. He loved being with his kids and grandkids, while keeping his horse close by with a rope in hand. He was a man of his word and a handshake meant everything. He instilled that characteristic in his children.
Dan is survived by his wife Florence, son Steve (Kathy); daughter Dana Jo; son Larry (Jodi); grandsons Sam (Vanessa), Stan and Roy; two great grandchildren; and by all the ones who affectionately call him “grandpa.” He is also survived by his brother Eddie (Lee) and several nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brothers Stanley, Lloyd and sister Virgina Meyer.
A funeral mass was held Nov. 30 in Chowchilla, with interment to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the charity of your choice.