Funeral Tuesday in Leesville for LSHOF member, legendary rodeo figure T. Berry Porter

Visitation is Monday evening, and a Tuesday morning funeral is set in his hometown of Leesville for Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame member T. Barrett “T. Berry” Porter, Louisiana’s first professional rodeo cowboy.

Porter, 99, passed away Saturday morning. He was the first rodeo figure to enter the state sports hall, joining Peyton Manning, Les Miles, Danielle Scott and Charles Smith, among others, in the LSHOF’s Class of 2019. At the time of his induction, he was the oldest person ever enshrined, and he was the oldest surviving Hall of Famer when he died.

He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City in 2015.

 The funeral will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the East Leesville Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Pine Grove Cemetery on Porter Road under the direction of Jeane’s Funeral Service. Visitation will be held Monday evening from 5-9 at East Leesville Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family said donations may be made to the Louisiana Lions Camp, 292 L Beauford Drive, Anacoco, LA 71403.

At the age of 16, Porter became a member of the first professional cowboy association in the country, the Cowboy Turtle Association, which developed into the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (he held PRCA membership card No. 325). His events were tie-down calf roping and steer wrestling.

At 22, Porter won a month-long competition at Madison Square Garden to become the 1949 World Champion Calf Roper title, presented his trophy saddle by “The Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry after becoming the first world championship “rookie” to win the title. He quickly added the calf roping title at the 1949 World Rodeo in Boston in front of 6,000.