February 22, 1939 – September 17, 2025
Jerry Daniel Adamson was a rancher, avid cattle judge, accomplished roper, coyote hunter and cribbage player. He loved his family, great cattle, good horses, the sandhills and hard-working honest people. Jerry had a sparkle in his eye and a quick smile. When he was a little boy, he rode his horse to country school in rural Cherry County. One year his only classmates were his brother, Rex and his longtime friend Buck Buckles. Stories of Jerry and his neighbors and friends were infamous. They lived by the mantra of work hard and play hard!
Jerry was one of the first Sandhills ranchers to start cross-breeding cattle. He never got into debates about breeds of cattle. He maintained there were good cattle in every breed and he enjoyed the process of trying to make his herd better. Jerry had 3 decades of hosting club calf sales and/or bull sales. The family joked that Jerry would make up projects just so he could ride his horse through the herd sorting, evaluating and thinking.
Jerry loved showing and judging cattle. He won numerous state and national awards. He was invited to judge livestock in nearly every major show across the United States as well as the Canadian Western Agribition. One of his proudest accomplishments was winning every major pen of five feeder shows in the nation one year, each one with a different group of steers.
Jerry believed in giving back. He served on the Valentine Rural School Board for 16 years and was a Cherry County Commissioner for 12 years. He was appointed an “Admiral in the Great Navy of Nebraska” by former governor, Kay Orr. He was named “Commercial Producer of the Year” by the Beef Improvement Federation.
Jerry was generous. Often Jerry would allow a kid who couldn’t afford a show calf to just take the calf home. The deal was to pay for the calf after the show season and the calf was sold. One ‘kid’ at Jerry’s funeral said that some time later, he realized he hadn’t paid Jerry. He told Jerry about it and the response was, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ Many other stories of Jerry’s generosity were shared after his passing. One story in particular was about a young family having a tough time and couldn’t afford to buy bulls. Jerry let them buy bulls, and then they did not have to pay for the bulls until their calves sold. That family said that reprieve helped them stay in business.
Out of all his awards and accomplishments, his kindness, wisdom, mentorship and generosity are the best part of his legacy.