A father and son’s perfect partnership

Dreams need a little help, sometimes.

You can have it all – the idea, willpower and determination – but occasionally what you need is an extra set of hands.

Bonus if those hands share the same dream.

Enter Gordon and Jesse Stucky. If you’re up to date with Angus news you’re likely to recognize the former’s name. Last November saw Gordon elected the new Association president and Board of Directors chairman. To many that meant a year of education, a time of guidance and leadership from a man with a passion to further the Angus breed.

To Jesse, it meant something a bit different.

It had always just been the two of them.

Father and son, teacher and student, coworkers, friends.

“Being the oldest, as I grew up, dad counted on me, really trained me in the ways that he liked to do things, I kind of became his right hand man at that point in time,” Jesse shares.

But with the elected position came the acceptance that at times, his would be the only hands available. Responsibilities would be heightened, pressures intensified.

But Jesse was ready.

“We sat down and talked things through, and I looked at things we did a year ago. I analyzed situations and thought, next year I’m going to probably be doing this myself so what can I do, how can I accomplish this by working alone?” he recalls.

The Stuckys updated equipment, Jesse purchased two new horses (which he credits as the most help), but ultimately, the son filled his father’s shoes.

Visit their Kingman, Kan., ranch and you’re likely to find Jesse horseback, checking pens, riding through pastures, feeding cattle. He could do it in his sleep but there’s no way he’s missing the real thing. The sunrises, sunsets, there’s nothing like them. Especially when paired with the knowledge that he’s carrying on a dream that began generations before his time on the Kansas land.

“The closeness and connection to nature is what I enjoy the most,” he says. “I’ve gotten to experience so many cool things in my life simply as a byproduct of the fact that my job has me outdoors all the time.”

At 33, the young man is hard pressed to imagine a life any different. Sure, there were thoughts of another career. College entertained the possibility of life as an EMT but the ranch seemed to always have a way of beckoning him home.

“Look more at the big picture,” he says. “When it’s 20 degrees outside and you’ve got a foot of snow on the ground and you’re working overtime just trying to get everything fed, it’s easy to just want to throw up your hands and say I don’t want to do this, I can’t do this anymore, but you have to look at the big picture.”

“There’s weeks like this week where it’s beautiful fall weather and you get to spend three-fourths of your day on horseback gathering cows. Then there’s no amount of money in the world that could buy that from you.”

An unsung hero of sorts, it’s Jesse, perhaps, who has supported his dad’s role more than anyone else. Albeit from afar, his stepping up allowed his father to step out and teach.

Gordon will be back. The two will resume their weekly routine as if nothing ever changed. Then he may go again, if only just for a day or two. But Jesse will be there. Now and later.

Thanks for allowing me to tell your story,

Laura

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Miss the first days of our series? Catch up here:

• Introduction: Nice to Meat Ya
• Day 1: Ashley Pado
• Day 2: Scott Redden