Former New Mexico Ag Secretary loved the ‘Western way of life’ 

FRANK DUBOIS | 1947-2024

BY OLLIE REED JR.

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Former New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Frank DuBois III loved team roping, college rodeo and Western culture and was dedicated to the support of the rural lifestyle that is the heartbeat of much of this state.

“His number one thing was getting the voice of agriculture heard,” said Jeff Witte, Dubois’ former assistant and New Mexico’s present agriculture secretary. “He had a tremendous impact across the country in agricultural matters.”

“He was my go-to guy when I needed information on federal regulations,” Chris Allison, range policy specialist at New Mexico State University, said of DuBois. “He had a tremendous intellect and a

tremendous desire for knowledge. He was always reading.”

Jerry Schickedanz, retired dean of the agriculture department at NMSU, said DuBois subscribed to four or five daily newspapers and had an office filled with more.

“Before there were computers and cellphones, he made a real effort to be up to date with what was going on,” Schickedanz said. “And he never forgot that stuff. Up until the day he died, we talked about legislation and the impact of rules and regulations on ranchers.”

DuBois, 77, a resident of Las Cruces, died Aug. 10 at his home. There was a memorial service on Aug. 24 at the New Mecico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces.

Survivors include a son, Frank DuBois IV; a daughter, Sevon Villarreal; a brother, John DuBois; a sister, Fara Green; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a niece and a nephew. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sharon; his parents, Frank and Wanda; and two grandchildren.

Battling adversity

DuBois was born in Long Beach, California, but attended Albuquerque’s Highland High School, where he played football and basketball. He worked summers on a family ranch at Corona.

He graduated from NMSU in 1973, and from 1974 to 1979 he worked with New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici in different positions, including legislative assistant for agriculture and international trade. He worked in Domenici’s Washington office and also in the senator’s field office in Las Cruces.

Schickedanz, who had been schoolmates with DuBois at NMSU, remembers DuBois answering the phone when he called Domenici’s office.

“I said, ‘Is this Mad Dog DuBois?’” Schickedanz said. “He said, ‘Keep that quiet. I got a respectable job now.’” After working with Domenici, DuBois was an agricultural programs specialist with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and then, in 1981, he was named deputy assistant secretary for land and water resources in the U.S. Interior Department.

DuBois returned to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture in the early 1980s. He served as the department’s assistant director before being named department director and state secretary of agriculture in 1988. He held that position until 2003, serving as Cabinet secretary for four governors, despite being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1990.

“My dad was 41 when he got MS,” Sevon Villarreal, DuBois’ daughter, said. “He was sick for a long, long time. But you wouldn’t believe this man’s will to live. He came up with exercises to deal with weaknesses. He exercised every day — even when he couldn’t go to the bathroom by himself, or to bed by himself.”

Schickedanz said DuBois never let the disease get the best of him.

“He was determined to keep on with what he was doing,” he said.

That included team roping, a sport he was passionate about.

“I remember my dad telling my mother he was not sure how much longer he was going to be able to continue roping,” Villarreal said. “My mother told my dad to do as much as he wanted to and go anyplace he needed to. He really went for it.”

Allison, who also had attended college with DuBois, traveled to team roping competitions with him.

“He was a header, and he was surprisingly good considering the issues he was having,” Allison said. “He was pretty competitive into the mid-’90s. He knew his days were limited, so he tried to go as much as he could. We would tie his legs into the stirrups with these big, heavy rubber bands. We thought it worked great.”

Rodeos and Rounders

Villarreal said her father was a brilliant man who expected a lot of her and her brother.

“When we were in high school, he didn’t think we had enough homework,” she said. “He would give us books to read, and we had to give these oral reports in front of the fireplace. I remember one book had a title like ‘How To Be a Success at Being Successful.’ That was not a fun read.”

Villarreal said that because of her father’s reputation as a “rough, tough cowboy,” few people would suspect he was a romantic with soft places in his heart.

“He always sent flowers — for Mother’s Day and for birthdays — to his wife, to me and to his little sister, Fara,” she said. “The first time I ever saw my dad cry was when his favorite roping horse, T Hawk, a buckskin, died.”

“He had this gruff exterior when you first met him, but he was really a puppy dog,” Allison said. “He had a soft heart for college rodeo kids. That was his driving force, providing scholarships and awards (for the NMSU rodeo team).”

Witte said the DuBois Rodeo Scholarships helped bring talent to the NMSU team at a time when it was not well-funded.

“He had a love for Western culture and created the Rounders Award to capture and promote that culture,” Witte said. “He got together with (cowboy-author) Max Evans to work that out, and it has been a great thing ever since.”

The Rounders Award was initiated in 1990 to honor those who “live, promote and articulate the western way of life.” It was named after one of Evans’ best-known novels, and Evans himself was the first recipient.

The award has since been presented to 33 more people, including historian Marc Simmons, Santa Clara Pueblo artist Pablita Velarde, cowboy painter Gary Morton, Western musician Rod Taylor and saddle maker Rosemary Wilkie. “Frank was a unique person,” Schickedanz said. “He had a biting sense of humor, and if you were on the wrong side of it it could smart a little bit. But he was able to work under different governors and keep politics out of the (agriculture) department.

“He was very knowledgeable about politics, natural resources and the Western way of life.”