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Cutters Recall Friend Tom Tofell at Memorial Service

Tom Tofell

The memorial service, attended by many, took place in the South Texas Room in the Amon Carter Building of Will Rogers Memorial Center, right across from the Coliseum and the cutting horse arena. One friend also said during the serive that like the famous humorist Will Rogers, Tofell seemingly "never met a man he didn't like."

Tom and his wife, Jan Tofell, owned and operated Tofell Ranch, a cutting and racehorse business in Millsap, Texas. He was friends and did business with cutters including NCHA Futurity Open and World Champion Open rider Leon Harrell, champion horse owners Dan Lufkin and Ernest Cannon, and U.S. representative and Non-Pro rider Tom Loeffler. Tofell also was a longtime business associate with Western Bloodstock auction company partner Jim Ware.

Nu And Sassy (Nu Bar x Holly Baby x Explosion), a 1979 mare bred and owned by Tofell Ranch, carried Harrell to a fifth-place finish in the 1982 NCHA Futurity Open finals with a 222.5, and a sixth-place finish in the 1983 Summer Spectacular Derby Open finals. The mare then went on to earn a combined $125,273 as a cutter.

Tofell’s survivors include his wife of 27 years, Jan; a daughter Lisa, Weatherford, Texas; his brother and his sister-in-law, James and Kathy Tofell, Roseburg, Ore.; brother and sister-in-law Dan and Meralee Tofell, Klamath Falls, Ore.; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Pallbearers include Todd Bimat, Mike Haack, Eddie Howard, Joe Landers, Bruce Lusk, Dennis Moreland, Chris Ray, Bart Tofell and Jim Ware. Honorary pallbearers include Ernest Gordon, Leon Harrell, D. Wayne Gilbreath, Gary Halousek, Neal Halousek, Wayne Hodges, Gordon Johnson, Gary Kennell, Dan Lufkin, Robert Lewis, Bobby Nelson, Gayle Trotter and Sam Wilson.

Memorials in Tom’s honor can be made to the National Youth Cutting Horse Association Scholarship Fund, c/o National Cutting Horse Association, 260 Bailey Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas, 76107.