“The thing that always sticks with me is that he was a really good cattleman. He knew how to do what was right when it came to raising cattle,” Doug Stevenson shares about his late father, Wayne Stevenson.

There are certain people whose influence doesn’t fade with time, whose presence lingers in the way others speak their name, the way their lessons are lived out long after they’re gone. For those who knew Wayne Stevenson, his name still carries weight, warmth, and deep respect. More than thirty years after his passing, Wayne’s spirit continues to shape Montana’s Angus community, not just through the cattle he bred or the land he worked, but through the people he touched and the values he lived by.

“He had a good eye. He was progressive. He was always looking for ways that we could do things to make the cattle better. He knew so much just from growing up and everywhere he traveled and everywhere he looked at cattle, he learned things,” Doug tells me. 

I was honored to learn more about Wayne directly from his son, Doug—a conversation that left a lasting impression on me. As Doug spoke, it became clear that Wayne’s mark on the Angus breed reached far beyond his own ranch. “He was able to sift through the different things he saw and find the correlations that made sense and that allowed us to make tremendous progress,” Doug says. “He was such a good cattleman, but he was also such a good people person.” Wayne had an incredible instinct for cattle, an ability to recognize quality that was sharpened by years of experience and a desire to continue learning. He traveled across the U.S., Canada, and even New Zealand, studying herds, comparing genetics, and seeking out the kind of cattle that could improve the breed. Yet his travels weren’t just about business; they were about building relationships, exchanging ideas, and working together toward something better. 

As Roger Jacobs recalled, Wayne was “extremely hardworking, forward-thinking, and terribly optimistic.” Wayne believed that true success wasn’t about standing alone at the top; it was about helping others grow stronger, learn more, and build something lasting. “He was the guy who wanted his competition, the other breeders in the state or in the Angus business, to be good, because he knew that made him good,” Ron Frye remarks. He enjoyed collaborating with other breeders and partnering on bulls that he believed would strengthen Angus genetics as a whole. Further, he poured himself into both his ranch and his relationships. Even decades later, those who knew him still speak of his mentorship and the way he made everyone feel capable of doing more. 

His compassion wasn’t just talk. “I think the thing that really resonated with me about Wayne was his compassion for the middle-of-the-road guy, or the guy just trying to come up in the business. He was all about trying to help them, and do whatever he needed to do to do that, whether it was loaning him a bull, or letting him pay a little later on the heifers they bought out of his sale,” Ron recalls. “He had a big heart that way, just trying to foster growth with other ranchers, other Angus breeders, so I always thought that maybe his greatest strength was just his compassion for other people.” He helped not because it earned him anything, but because he believed in people, especially those who were still finding their footing.

Wayne’s mentorship and memory live on through the Wayne Stevenson Memorial Award of Excellence—an honor that recognizes individuals who embody Wayne’s integrity, work ethic, and love for the Angus breed. “The family wanted to recognize Wayne and remember Wayne, and then recognize people that were somewhat like him and made great contributions to the Angus breed, particularly Angus cattle here in Montana. And so the idea was to form the Wayne Stevenson Memorial Award of Excellence,” Roger explains. Created by Wayne’s family 30 years ago, the award isn’t just about accomplishment; it’s about character. Each recipient is chosen not only for their contributions to the industry, but for the way they carry themselves with humility, honesty, and heart. 

Since the start of the award, Roger has had the privilege of helping the family select the recipient and even present it almost every single year. He talked about how meaningful and emotional it is to be part of that process each year. It brings back strong memories of Wayne and the loss the Angus community has felt in his absence. The award is deeply personal for those who knew Wayne. Helping choose the recipient feels to him like continuing Wayne’s legacy and keeping his spirit alive, as well as a special way to honor and remember a great friend. “He was just a real role model in my mind for what we ought to be,” Roger shares. 

Today, when the award is presented, it brings a mix of pride and ache for the Stevenson family. It’s a celebration of others who share Wayne’s spirit, but it also reopens the tender reminder of how much was lost when he passed. Still, they know it matters. “We want newer breeders to understand the impact that he had and the goal of trying to do better. It's a business, we're all in it to make money, but really, our goal should be to make the cattle better and to make the people that we work with better. That was always his goal, and we want people to remember that,” Doug says. The award preserves his values, passing them on to younger generations who never had the chance to know him.

At this year’s Montana Angus Association Annual Banquet, Ron Frye was awarded the Wayne Stevenson Memorial Award of Excellence, following a tender and emotional tribute to Wayne by Joe Goggins, sharing how much he did for the Angus breed and the people working within the Angus world. During my conversation with Doug, he shared how wonderful a job the family felt that he did in presenting the award. It’s safe to say that every person in that room was deeply moved by the tribute, which only serves to highlight just how many lives Wayne truly touched.

Ron’s commitment to the Angus breed has spanned more than 40 years, including time spent serving the American Angus Association (AAA) as a Regional Manager from 1992 to 2002. During his tenure with the association, he represented Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota, which allowed him the opportunity to connect with many different Angus breeders and form lifelong friendships. “Getting Wayne's blessing was a big deal in me getting hired at the American Angus Association, so getting the award really became kind of a full circle thing for me,” Ron shares, reflecting on his time spent helping out at Basin Angus for a couple of months before getting hired at AAA, where he was able to help work the ring and be a part of the marketing team for that year’s sale.

Following his time at AAA, Ron worked as the marketing director at Edwards Angus Ranch in Denton, Montana, and KG Ranch in Three Forks, Montana, for 15 years. Working for both of these ranches helped him gain a deep respect and appreciation for the challenges faced by cattlemen in the industry. In 2015, he founded Ron Frye Marketing, which is a mid-sized purebred cattle marketing service specializing in Angus Bull and registered Angus Female sales. Ron’s decision to launch his own marketing business was born out of a desire to offer comprehensive marketing services to a diverse range of operations. He has always aimed to serve fellow breeders with honesty, humility, and integrity.

Ron has also worked as a Montana Junior Angus advisor, which allowed him to mentor up-and-coming youth in the business. Like Wayne, he believes that the Angus breed’s strength is not only in the cattle, but in the people and the values we pass on. Ron’s service to the business is a direct testament to his lifelong dedication, which is only one of the many reasons why Ron was selected as the award’s recipient this year. Ron knew Wayne and deeply admired him. Receiving the award is among the greatest honors of his life.

One of the most powerful sentiments that Ron shared with me during our conversation was just how incredibly proud Wayne would have been of his family. “I've known both sides of the Stevenson family, Keith's side and Wayne's side, for better than 30 years, and just to see all that they have gone through, I think Wayne would be so proud of his children for the programs that they have built, the struggles they went through, and coming out on the other side bigger, better, and stronger.” 

Today, Basin Angus is led by Doug and his wife, Sharon, who have been dedicated to rebuilding the herd since its dispersal in 2010. The two of them had planned to rebuild a small herd in semi-retirement from a set of embryo pregnancies in cooperator herds not offered in the dispersal sale. But, when it came time to wean the set of embryo calves, they knew it was destined for more. The culmination of a lifetime of breeding Angus cattle was represented in that group. Since then, and the purchase of the current Basin Angus headquarters, they have brought the herd back up to over 1,000 cows. Their daughters, Brittany, Leisa, and Nicole, along with their husbands, help out on the ranch today. 

Clint Stevenson and his wife, Adana, run Stevenson’s Diamond Dot Cattle Company, which is located in Judith Basin. With help from his father, Wayne, and his mother, Marian, Clint purchased the ranch in 1991. As the ranch and family grew, so did the herd. Their cow herd actually traces back to Clint’s first heifer in 1977 and is heavily influenced by Stevenson cattle genetics. Wayne’s Basin Angus cow herd, a select group of heifers and cows, and several groups of embryos also helped to establish the Diamond Dot cow base. Today, Clint and Adana’s children, Wayne, Faith, Abigail, Rachael, and Carson, stay extremely involved in the day-to-day work on the ranch.

Valerie (Stevenson) and Clint Carr own and operate Carr Angus Ranch, located in Hobson. But, before Carr Angus was established, they both continued a connection to Basin Angus. After Wayne’s passing, they returned to ranching full-time, helping Basin Angus Ranch continue to flourish. During the dispersal in 2010, Clint and Valerie, along with their eldest son, Kyle, retained a small herd of registered Angus cattle, and thus, the Carr Angus Ranch was born. Today, Clint and Valerie, Kyle, his wife, Stephanie, and their children, alongside his brother Nate, his wife Liz, and their children, continue to work the ranch, making it a true family operation.

“Wayne would have been very proud of his kids, and he would have been really, really proud of these grandkids,” Ron says. It’s deeply meaningful that all of Wayne’s children, and now their families, have carried on his work and his legacy with such dedication. Roger echoed that sentiment: “He was a great family man, and he worked so hard. He worked day and night to build what he had. His honesty and integrity were second to none. And he was just such a likable, lovable guy. I miss him to this day.”

The Wayne Stevenson Memorial Award stands as a lasting tribute to the values Wayne lived by. More than just an honor, it has become a tradition that unites Montana breeders, reflecting Wayne’s belief that even as competitors, they could collaborate to make the industry stronger. Each year, the award not only commemorates an extraordinary man but also inspires others to embody his commitment to progress, community, and compassion.

“Wayne would have been proud of them [the recipients],” Ron shares. “When you walk away from that, the neat thing is that Wayne would have sat in the front row and been very proud of all of the recipients. That’s what gives you chills about the whole thing, is that, man, did I accomplish something that would have made that guy proud? Because, to me, he was a legend.”

And indeed he was. A remarkable legend—to his family, to the award recipients, and to the Angus community as a whole. More than three decades later, Wayne’s story still echoes in the people he inspired. His life was about more than raising cattle; it was about caring for people. His legacy continues to live and grow, rooted in the same strength, care, and perseverance that defined both the man and the cattle he raised.