Paul Luchsinger, Sept. 19, 1955 – May 12, 2015

by ProRodeo.com | May 15, 2015

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Paul Luchsinger, a gifted multi-sport athlete who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo five times as a steer wrestler despite not taking up the cowboy sport until his college years, died May 12 of cancer. He was 59.

A New Mexico high school wrestling champion at 185 pounds and an all-state football player as a linebacker and guard, Luchsinger was convinced to try rodeo at age 18 by his Montana State University roommate, Bruce Contway, a bulldogger and tie-down roper.

Luchsinger attended a Walt Linderman steer wrestling school in Bozeman, Mont., in 1976, bought his permit in 1977 and started competing full time as a card holder the following year.

He qualified for the NFR in 1979-81 and 1984-85, enjoying his best season in 1981 when he finished seventh in the world standings.

Luchsinger married into a rodeo family in November 1981 when he was wed to Christian music singer Susie McEntire, daughter of three-time World Champion Steer Roper Clark McEntire. Susie’s brother, Pake, was a two-time qualifier for the National Finals Steer Roping and her sister, Reba, is a renowned country singer who got her start by singing the National Anthem at the NFR in Oklahoma City.

Funeral services are pending and will be posted on www.prorodeo.com as soon as the details become available.

Courtesy of PRCA