Jerry Askin

Jerry Benjamin Askin was entered up in the Big Roping in the sky on Tuesday April 30th, 2024. He fought the good fight of Parkinsons for many years, however his body couldn't handle it anymore. He died peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones.

Jerry the son of George and Gladys Askin was born on August 4th, 1947 in Ekalaka where he grew up and attended school. Jerry graduated high school in Ekalaka and then attended Montana State University for a few years, earning an animal science degree.

Jerry's life took him all over the country from running and jockeying race horses, guiding hunters on pack trips, and shoeing horses, but his true love was team roping and producing exceptional class act ropings, where he met his wife, Jill. They married on July 1st, 1987 and continued to produce ropings for many years around the state of Montana and Wyoming. He truly loved helping people in any way he could and to have them experience and enjoy the sport of team roping as much as he did.

Jerry was very passionate about horses, especially running bred horses and raising very fine equine athletes for the track and rodeo arena. He got the love of breeding horses through his parents and he was always looking for the next best bloodlines, which included his latest stud, Midnight Corona. He loved springtime and watching the colts being born and to watch them grow up to become top notch performance horses.

Another love of his life was the construction industry, where he worked for more than 55 years, and gained a wealth of experience in a variety of transmission lines, substations, pipelines, and water resource projects. He joined Barnard in 1990 and retired after 33 years this past November.

Jerry was an incredible mentor to whoever wanted to listen at work, in the arena, or shoeing horses. He truly would give the shirt off his back to help anyone in need or wanting it. He was a very passionate person and would put his whole heart into something, and once an idea was in his head, he was going to finish it or fix it. He loved talking about the old race track days and ropings. He had many stories to tell and all you had to do was listen.

Jerry loved his family dearly, especially his grandkids. He never missed a school function, play, dance recital, livestock show, or rodeo. When his health was getting worse and couldn't make it, he always wanted a play-by-play detail of everything that happened or a video/live feed video so he could watch it like he was there. He loved taking them fishing as fishing was one of his favorite hobbies to do.

Jerry is survived by his wife Jill Askin, six children (Tracy Askin, Todd Askin, Tanya Askin, Teather Askin, Tyler Askin and JoBeth Askin Hutchison), son-in-law Luke Hutchison, his brother Jon Askin, 11 grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

The Celebration of Life for Jerry will be Thursday, May 23, at 1:00 P.M. at The Commons. Please bring your favorite memory or story of Jerry to share during the service. The family would like to invite everyone to join them for refreshments and food after the service.

In lieu of flowers, please consider giving in Jerry's honor to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund (JCCF) or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.