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Terri Gay Accepts “Priceless” Sharon Shoulders Award with her Dearly Departed Friend on her Mind

By: Darci Miller

LAS VEGAS – When Terri Gay, the wife of eight-time World Champion Donnie Gay, took to the stage at the PBR’s Heroes and Legends Celebration at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, she took the opportunity to poke fun at both herself and her loquacious husband, who presented her with the Sharon Shoulders Award.

“As you know, I’m not the speaker in our house, so I’ve written a few things down,” she said, placing her prepared statement on the lectern. “Donnie’s already said half of what was in my letter because he read it just a while ago.”

Caught, Donnie burst out laughing, covering his face with his hands.

It’s how things have gone for the whole 44 years they’ve been married – Donnie out in the spotlight, Terri working behind the scenes and making the whole operation run.

Created in 2010, the Sharon Shoulders Award recognizes the great women of professional bull riding; those whose work, partnership, and faith have been as integral to the sport as the athletes themselves.

Terri, who grew up riding horses and barrel racing, has been a PRCA secretary/timer since 1977 and has timed the National Finals Rodeo and The American multiple times. She and Don now both work for the Frontier Rodeo Company, where she is also involved in assisting with publicity while at Frontier events.

Terri and Donnie met at a rodeo when they were kids, but romance didn’t flourish until they were older, despite Donnie being in love at first sight.

“I met Terri Gay when I was 16; she was 13,” he said. “And I said, ‘That’s her.’”

 
The two married in 1977 and honeymooned at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, which Donnie went on to win.

He won his eighth world title in 1984, the year the couple’s daughter, Talli, was born.

“I never had to worry when I left home,” Donnie said. “I’ve seen so many people go, ‘Oh, well, I’d better go home. Wife and kids, they need me at the house.’ I never had to worry about that. All I had to do was do my business.”

And running the household – in addition to her own rodeo pursuits and secretary position – was no easy feat with her husband gone so often.

“Back in those days, I had an airplane and was going to 160 rodeos a year that I was getting on,” Donnie said. “I was gone over 250 days every year. So we had this long-distance love affair. It’s what kept it fresh – I was never home. It was pretty wild.

“Everybody in this room that’s really put out has figured out that you don’t really do anything great by yourself.”

Donnie remembers one particular instance in August of 1981. He’d won six world titles at that point. Next up on the docket was a rodeo in Caldwell, Idaho, which, in his own words, is very far away from the couple’s home in Mesquite, Texas.

So he came home and laid down on their brand new blue velour couch – it was the ‘80s, after all – and was doing some channel surfing on TV when Terri approached.

“Here you go,” she said.

“What?” Donnie said, sitting up.

In her hands were a suitcase and a hang-up bag full of freshly laundered and ironed clothes.

“You can’t win anything laying on your butt here,” Terri said.

Donnie would go on to win his seventh world title that year.

“I’ve been on stage a lot of times,” Donnie said. “The only thing I wanted to be was a World Champion bull rider. But this tonight is probably as excited as I’ve been in a long time about the bull riding/rodeo business.

“It takes the village to conquer your dreams, and one of my dreams has been Terri Gay.”

For Terri’s part, the award means all the more to her because of her close friendship with its namesake, Sharon Shoulders, who passed away earlier this year.

“Sharon, my sweet, God-given friend of 40-plus years and a wonderful mentor, she always loved me and mine like her own,” Terri said. “Her greatness for me was evident in her faith, in her Christian walk, in her unfailing love for family and friends, and in the shining example she always exuded. My Sharon Shoulders Award is priceless. It’s an honor and a privilege that truly means more than words can ever say.”

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