Legacy Osceola rancher, who passed down his wisdom, dies at 88
Family and friends gathered Saturday to fondly remember Ham Brown as a genteel Southern gentleman who had a caring spot in his heart for everyone.
Jerry Lee “Ham” Brown, an Osceola County legacy rancher and a member of multigenerational settling family of Osceola, passed away to be with “The Ol’ Master” (as he referred to Jesus) on Jan. 3 at age 88.
Brown and his family owned and ranched land along the road south and west of Kissimmee that bears his name today, and was a fixture at the Silver Spurs Rodeo, Osceola County Fair and Livestock Show and other horse competitions.
Services were held at Eastern Avenue Baptist Church in St. Cloud, and “Pa Ham” is interred at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
Born in Kissimmee on July 13, 1936, Brown was a lifelong cattleman, working local land handed down to him by his grandfather and became a thirdgeneration cattleman. Although he had no children of his own following the passing of his wife Jackie, he cared for an extended family and was regarded as a gentlemanly and grandfatherly figure to a host of nieces, nephews and other close family.
“There was a greater power that brought this family together. He was the best stepdad and grandpa,” said Pam Sanderson, the wife of Ham’s stepson Benny. “There’s nothing the children of our family ever needed. He supported all of them and did it out of his own heart.”
He was a loyal supporter of Osceola’s local 4-H club, often bidding on some of the last remaining livestock of the Fair to ensure all children raising animals were supposed.
“He wanted the legacy of 4-H and the Fair to continue,” Sanderson said. “He was a man of few words, wearing his boots and hat everywhere we went except to church or a funeral.”
Ham had a half-century involvement with the Silver Spurs Rodeo, as a bull rider, steer wrestler and Quadrille member in the 1950s, then as the chute operator for calf ropers and team ropers for over 40 years starting in the 1960s. He served the Spurs’ board, including as Rodeo Big Boss in 1970 and was named the 2000 Coca-Cola Cowboy for lifetime dedication to the Spurs.
Regarded as a “cattleman’s cattleman,” he was a national director for the National Cutting Horse Association and American Quarter Horse Association. He was able to pass on his talent and knowledge on to others, including Pam’s son Caleb Sanderson, a former high school and professional bull rider from Kissimmee who now works cattle on land in Texas.
“He’ll always be ‘My Pa Ham,’” said Caleb, a father of three who noted his 8-yearold son already loves being on a horse. “I got to spend every summer with him growing up until high school, and we worked horses every day. He showed me what makes a cowboy, and we’re going to have more cowboys.
“What made Ham a great man was he carried himself in a way that, to me, made him a man close to Jesus. He was caring and loving and treated everyone the same. He was one of a kind and will be missed; I hope to be a quarter of the man he was.”
