Funeral service for Bud Longbrake, 62, of Dupree will be held at 11:00 AM, Saturday, December 28, 2024, at the Dupree School Gymnasium. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 PM, Friday, December 27, 2024, at the Dupree School Gymnasium. Bud passed away Friday, December 20, 2024, at the IHS Hospital in Eagle Butte. Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge is charge of arrangements.
Emmett Dunn (Bud) Longbrake was born on September 6, 1962 in Eagle Butte, South Dakota to Delbert F. (Pete) and Faye A. (Nordvold) Longbrake. He was met on the ranch on Ash Creek by older brothers Delbert W. and Jesse J. They would be followed by a sister Charlie to complete the family.
His early life on Ash Creek was filled with riding horses to check cows, later riding colts, and going to rodeo’s with Pete and Faye. The Knight families were the closest neighbors and a lot of time was spent there as well playing War, riding, playing in the hay and getting chewed out because the hay was all messed up, and practicing riding steers or anything else they could. The Till and Bendigo families were also close friends and free time was pretty rowdy. During the months that plums and chokecherries were ripe there was plenty of baking soda used to remove the black residue on teeth.
When Pete got more into raising bucking horses all the kids learned how to run them to get them in. Bud also learned about running horses in a pickup! That was pretty wild but Bud held on and later got a motorcycle and continued his wild ride in life. There were lots of horses for Bud to get on for practice. The entire area of Ash Creek seemed to be raising bucking horses and it was quite the scene when people turned out to practice riding bronc’s or cutting studs.
When he was about 12 he went to work/live with the Clif and Inga Birkeland family and that brought in another family as part of the overall family in Bud’s life.
In 1987 Bud married Lona Wishard and together they had Jay and Kayla. Together they started their own ranch southwest of Dupree. Bud was later able to incorporate his Grandma Mary Longbrake’s place. Lona and the kids traveled around with Bud when he rodeoed as much as they could but they also kept the ranch together. There are lots of memories the family shares but the most outstanding ones are when Bud won the first, second, short go, and the average in the bronc riding in Cheyenne in 1999. Also the 2002 winter Olympiad was an exciting once in a family history event. His mom was able to attend and she was always talking about it. The several NFR trips and winning the average was a highlight of the family history as well. That part of Bud’s life is documented in a separate area but Bud was more than just riding bronc’s. It was hard to come up with a few people to be his pall bears and honorary pall bearers because he knew and loved so many people the family couldn’t condense the number to just a few people to mention. Bud had a way of making a person feel like you were his best friend and the family couldn’t list everyone.
Bud was a family man and was very proud of his kids and grandkids. He would take horses to local rodeos and watch his grandkids rodeo or he’d take them hunting and fishing a lot. There was so much in his life it’s hard to get it into one small page. He will be greatly missed by his daughter Kayla and her daughter Hailee. His son Jay and his family of Jakki, Jaxon, Kayzli, Jaydunn, Kayclynn, and Kali. Lona Longbrake. Special friend Darla Woodward. Mother Faye Longbrake. Siblings Delbert (Mona), Jesse (Cindy), Charlie (Harlan), Aunts June (Don) Gray, Nan Savoy, Mary Jo Garreau, Uncles Blaine and Jerry Nordvold, Beverly Longbrake, Judy Longbrake, and many nieces and nephews and cousins.
Bud is preceded in death by Father-In-Law Tom Wishard, Father Pete Longbrake. Sydney and Rose Nordvold, Delbert and Mary Longbrake and several aunts and uncles and cousins.
Bronc Riding Nation– “Bud Longbrake was a cowboy in every sense of the word. He was a rider and stockman, a father, grandfather, and steward of the land. He was a savvy breeder and artful at reading and providing what any individual bucking horse needed to be the best. He was a teacher, a friend, possessed vision and compassion – Bud was the perfect balance of tough and tender.”
Bud’s Rodeo History:
SDRA
Indian Rodeo’s
Won the NRCA bronc riding 1983 and 1987
Won on the following PRCA rodeo’s
Houston
Ellensburg
Pendleton
Redding
Cheyenne- He was the first person to win the first go, second go, short go, and the average in the bronc riding.
