Ace Berry cannot remember a life without rodeo.

Born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Ace was 5 when his family moved to California. The journey west began with a friendship between his father, Virgil, a rancher and horse trainer, and Ben Johnson, the Oscar-winning actor and celebrated cowboy. Johnson had settled in California after hauling a load of horses to Hollywood and later asked Virgil to manage a ranch in Escalon.

It was there that Ace grew up horseback, learning ranch work and roping under his father’s watchful eye. After his father died when Ace was 16, he moved to Oakdale, the town that would become home. Following his family’s move to California, Ace remained in the Oakdale area except for four years when he returned to Oklahoma.

By then, Ace was already making rodeo history.

At 13, he entered team roping at the California Rodeo Salinas, competing against 167 teams at one of the state’s biggest professional rodeos. He won the first go-round. At 15, Ace qualified for the National Finals Rodeo, becoming its youngest competitor at the time. He returned for 14 consecutive years, competing in both team roping and bareback riding during six of them.

Ace won four National Finals Rodeo championships, taking team roping and bareback riding titles in 1967, then both titles again in 1972. No cowboy since has twice won championships in both a timed event and a riding event at the National Finals.

His career carried him to victories at nearly every major rodeo, including the celebrated trio of Cheyenne, Pendleton and Calgary. Only Houston and Fort Worth escaped him.

“I’m not bragging on myself,” Ace said. “I was just lucky and fortunate enough to win almost every major rodeo there is.”

His honors include induction into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 2002, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs in 2009 and the California Rodeo Salinas Hall of Fame in 2025.

Ace credits his father, his mother’s unwavering support, champion bareback rider Sonny Tureman and roping partner John Miller with helping shape his career. He retired from competition about two years ago, but his connection to rodeo and the outdoor life remains strong.

Today, Ace shares that life with his girlfriend, Mimi Medlen. The two have been together for 10 years, following a friendship that began 40 years earlier. They enjoy golfing, rodeo, fishing and spending time in the great outdoors.

“When Ace came back to Oakdale from Oklahoma, we started playing golf, and the rest is history,” Mimi said.

Although he no longer competes, Ace’s advice to young cowboys remains direct: stay away from drugs, learn from professionals and build sound fundamentals instead of copying what appears on television.

To Ace, a cowboy is more than someone who competes in an arena. A cowboy understands horses, ranch work and the meaning of a full day in the saddle. The profession has changed, he admits, but true cowboys remain.

Oakdale certainly knows one of them.