Butch was born August 2, 1952 to Oscar E. Bode, Jr. and Doris Helmer Bode, in Brenham, Texas. Butch’s father was a prominent rancher and owned and operated a sale barn in Brenham and others in the surrounding area. Butch worked at the sale barns after school and in the summers.
He was already riding and showing cutting horses, but when Butch started roping, it was always roping first. Practice, practice, practice.
Because of Toots Mansfield’s teaching, Butch credited a lot of his style and ability to him, a man whom he greatly admired and respected.
He stared participating in Youth Rodeos and continued riding cutting horses during his High School years.
He attended Western Texas College in Snyder, Texas on a rodeo scholarship, and won the calf roping event at the college finals that year which were held in Bozeman, Montana.
In 1971, Butch earned Rookie of the Year of the International Rodeo Association. Butch joined the PRCA and qualified for the 1976 NFR going in 5th place in world competition for the finals in the calf roping event. This made him the 4th left handed calf roper to ever qualify for the NFR. He won 2nd that year in the calf roping.
In 1977 and 1979 he won the San Angelo Roping Fiesta, setting and holding the arena record there for several years.
Butch participated in the World’s Richest Roping, the Windy Ryan Memorial Roping, Calgary Stampede, and Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, not to mention the other PRCA rodeos and jackpots across Texas and the United States. He qualified for the Texas Circuit Finals in both Calf Roping and/or Bulldogging numerous times. It goes without saying he wasn’t just participating in these either, as anyone who knew him knew, he was winning.
He participated in the TSWA Finals in 1983 and won the Jim Bob Althizer Coors Invitational Roping in 1987 averaging 11.10 in three go rounds, and was first in the short go with 9.9.
In the mid 1990s, he participated in many PRCA and CPRA rodeos across Texas, riding a horse that he owned nan1ed Socks on which he both calf roped and bulldogged.
In 1996 he qualified for the World Finals held in Charleston, South Carolina, participating in the bulldogging event.
On through the turn of the century, Butch continued his rodeo career participating mainly in the bulldogging event in rodeos and jackpots and staying mostly in the Central Texas and Hill Country areas.
Butch started team roping over the last few years of his life and was still roping up until his death. In fact, Butch roped on December 29, 2012 at a team roping in the Rose Palace in San Antonio and passed away on January 6, 2013.
It goes without saying Roping was his life. He was truly a Texas Rodeo Cowboy.
He was a Gold Card Member of the PRCA, a member of the CPRA, USTRA and AQHA.
He is survived by his wife, Linda Bode, his daughter, Sara Lynn Balcar, two sons, Oscar E Bode IV (Buster) and Bruce Brian Bode and three grandchildren, Bayle Raye Bode, Oscar E. Bode V (Bryce), and Emily Mae Castillo.
