James Putnam

Jim was born in Dallas, SD, on July 2, 1937, to Francis and Bertha (Determan) Putnam in a house made of sod. Delivered by his granny, he grew up on a farm in south central South Dakota with no electricity or indoor bathroom. He was the fifth child of six children. He went to a oneroom schoolhouse through the eighth grade. He had to move into town, and live at a boarding house. He graduated from Gregory High School in 1955. After high school, Jim moved to Minneapolis, MN, to work for his uncle and aunt selling home improvement products doorto- door. Jim was drafted into the Army in 1960 and served two years spending some of that time in France and Germany. He was honorably discharged from the Army Reserves in 1966.

In 1963, Jim married Judith McCance and the couple had two children:Brian born in 1964 in Minneapolis, MN, and Tracy born in 1965 in Burlingame, CA. From Minneapolis, Jim and Judy moved to Devil’s Lake, ND, where he sold cars at his brother Joe’s dealership. Jim followed Joe out to California in 1965 to sell cars at Joe’s Buick dealership. Jim got a Pontiac dealership in Redding, CA, in 1968. When that dealership didn’t work out, Jim moved his family to Denver, CO, in 1970, where he was the general manager for a big Buick dealership. In 1975, Jim took the family back to the San Francisco Bay area and went back to selling cars and being a manager for Joe. In 1981, Jim bought a dealership in Visalia, CA, that had ten different franchises. He and his partner, Carl Windh, eventually sold that dealership in the late 1990s and retired.

While Jim was running his car dealership in Visalia, he got introduced the sport of cutting and reined cow horse. He had previously owned a couple of trail riding horses and bought Tracy a nice hunter/jumper Thoroughbred show horse in the Bay Area. Now it was his turn. He was introduced to the legendary reined cow horse trainer, Greg Ward. Greg sold him a little sorrel Quarter Horse stud colt, Sen Bar Chex… and that’s how Jim’s passion for the National Reined Cow Horse Association was set. Jim loved going down the fence!! And he loved cutting. He wasn’t so fond of the reining. He always said that the only reason he did the reining was because they wouldn’t give him his fence cow without it. He quickly made many friends by telling his stories to any and all whowould walk around the practice pen with him.

When the NRCHA faced financial difficulties in the late 1980s, then president, Ted Robinson, asked for Jim’s help. He was appointed treasurer, and with the help of his friends Carol Futran, Jon Semper, and Matt Day, the association turned around. He was an active board member for several years. In 2007, he was nominated as the first NRCHA Hall of Merit inductee. Jim competed as a non pro until 2012.

Jim owned a 25-acre horse ranch in Visalia, CA. Several current reined cow horse trainers started their first businesses on his ranch. Jim shared his cow horses with his daughter and both granddaughters. Lauren and Kelsey won many buckles while showing as youths. His daughter, Tracy, continues to show a horse they owned together.

Jim and Judy were married for 44 years. Judy died in 2007 from multiple myeloma. His son Brian died in 2012.

He moved to Granbury, TX, in 2021 with Tracy and Jeff nearby in Weatherford, TX.

The week before Thanksgiving, Jim had to go to the hospital to be treated for pneumonia. While there, he suffered a minor stroke that made it hard for him to speak. Age and the onset of dementia finally caught up to him on March 19, 2023, when he passed away at The Cove in Granbury, TX.

Jim is survived by his daughter Tracy (Putnam) Lynch and son-inlaw Jeff Lynch in Weatherford, TX; granddaughter Lauren Lynch in Oklahoma City, OK; granddaughter, Kelsey Lynch in Austin, TX; brothers Joseph Putnam in Woodside, CA, and Patrick Putnam in San Mateo, CA; and several nephews and nieces throughout the country.

He was preceded in death by his wife Judith (McCance) Putnam; son Brian Putnam; parents Francis and Bertha Putnam; sisters Margaret Marwede and Doris Miner; and brother Robert Putnam.