WILLCOX Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees

WAYNE KLUMP (117)
Aug. 15, 1943 - 
2015 COWBOY HALL OF FAME

Wayne Klump comes from pioneer ranching blood, born to John Sherman and Dealia Klump on Aug. 15, 1943 in Willcox, Ariz. The Klumps arrived in 1904 and they have been ranching on the side of the Dos Cabezas Mountains ever since.  Wayne is one of fove brothers, and he has one sister.  He went 12 years of school in the Bowie, Ariz. school system and in high school Wayne played basketball.

Wayne never considered doing anything else other than ranching. “There was always more work than we could do.”  He grew up poor, but he feels like he has lived the American dream, where you work hard to get ahead.  Wayne said a common problem with ranches is that it won’t rain when you need it to rain.  So in the early days, the Klumps went to farming.  They cleared land, drilled wells and raised cow feed so they could keep their calves in a feedlot.  Wayne said, “I was the mechanic and irrigator, while Keith ran the tractors.”

Wayne has six children, four girls (Kay, Trish, Nicolette and Reba) and two boys (Matt and Wyatt). One summer Wayne spent most of his free time at the ballpark where he coached two softball teams and one little league team, all three of which were sponsored by the Klumps.

Wayne said, “Right now life is good.  I’ve got the best job ever.  I just have to make sure everything is running.”  Wayne will be inducted into the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame on October 1, 2015.  Wayne’s dad John Sherman Klump, his two brothers Dan and Keith, and his cousin Ray Wein are all members of the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame.