There was a big turnout for the barrel racing competition for the
oldest group of amateur young people. All but one of the riders were
girls. Several riders were good - very good. And some of the best were
local.
But the last rider was Wes Brewer, the only young man in the
competition. At age 18, Brewer- on his bay quarterhorse Zipper - was
competing for the last time in this age group at his hometown rodeo. The
crowd came alive.
Wes was only partway through the pattern when it became apparent that
it was going to be a great run. The members of the Los Alamos Junior
Sheriffs Posse began to cheer wildly.
As Wes blazed by the stands, finishing at a full gallop, he threw his
hat high into the air. Sure enough, he'd placed first.
It was a thrilling ride for everyone who watched. But it counted even
more for those who knew that the slim young man with the blond hair and
the big smile had cystic fibrosis. This week, at about 8 p.m. on
Thursday, March 14 1991, after 21 years of Struggle and victory, Wes
died, with his family at his side. Four friends and family members - his
father, Ray Brewer, his mother, Ilene Farmer, Darrel Farmer, and Bobbie
Eutsler - shared their memories Friday afternoon with the Monitor. The
picture that emerged was one of remarkable courage. Wes' mom, Ilene,
said, "Wesley was not diagnosed until he was 6 months old." She and Ray
hadn't known their son might be at risk for the fatal, inherited
disease. Ray explained that cystic fibrosis involves a thickening of the
mucus in your body." It affects both the lungs and the pancreas- both
breathing and nutrition. "Six months was his first trip to the
hospital," Ilene recalled.
'That first year, he was in the hospital a lot. Then he started
building himself up." After that first year. Wes' child- hood went
surprisingly well Wes was a fighter. In 1972. when he was 3. he was the
New Mexico cystic fibrosis poster child. A photograph that ran in the
Monitor on May 16. 1972 showed Wes in the arms of Governor King,
surrounded by other children, all of them representing the "Breath of
Life" campaign. As the poster child, Wes got to visit the governor's
mansion and have tea with then-First Lady Alice King. She went out into
her yard and found him a horned toad. During his last week of
hospitalization, Mrs. King - once more the first lady - heard of his
illness and called to talk to him. The theme of the "Breath of Life"
campaign in 1972 was "Never Take Breathing for Granted."
Looking back, it seems that Wes never did. He lived his short life at
a gallop. As he went through school, he was in Little League, he golfed,
he played basketball, and he even tried soccer. He hunted and fished and
rode motorcycles with his family. Both Wes and Ilene got involved in
shooting muzzle-loaders. When Wes was 11, he won a first in the
muzzle-loading competition at me Red River Rendezvous, defeating a
17-year-old from Carlsbad to take home a new rifle.
The rodeo arena is named for the late Lionel Brewer, Ray's dad, who
founded the Junior Sheriff's Posse in 1956. Ray was a charter member of
the junior posse, and later, as an adult, ran it himself. Initially,
doctors told Ray and Ilene that Wes "would be allergic to horses." They
got out of horses and bought a boat but the year Wes turned 10, they had
him tested and found he wasn't allergic to horses. His first horse was
"Gator," a gift from his grandfather. Gator was a bay. In the years that
followed, there would be "Mean Liquor," "Budweiser." Zipper," and his
last bay, "Jose Cuervo." "Wes wasn't partial to bays," Ray said with a
smile. "He just wouldn't ride anything else."
Ray recalled that he had given Wes only two weeks of lessons when the
boy entered his first show and won a ribbon in every class. Wes was in
junior posse from about 1979 to 1987. "Wes was elected president at 10
years old." Ilene remembered. "He could hardly read." Ray added. "If it
hadn't been for his sister, Donna, Wes's presidency would have been a
flop." With the other junior posse members, Wes rode in parades, set
pivots and rode a square dance at a gallop all over Northern New Mexico.
Meanwhile, he kept showing horses. He moved from amateur classes and
4-H on to the New Mexico Quarterhorse Association, and finally In 1986,
Wes went to the world junior quarterhorse show in four speed events -
barrels, poles, stakes (figure-eights), and breakaway roping. And after
he entered high school he began to try roping. He was a frequent
participant in local jackpot roping. "He would place." Ray said, "but he
never won." He did pack trips and moonlight rides and hayrides. He and
his dad and friends went hunting on horseback. Ray brought special
oxygen for Wes on a spare horse. There were many friends - both girls
and boys. People said Wes was fun to be around.
Wes continued to rope after he entered Eastern New Mexico University
in Portales, where he majored in agriculture and business. As recently
as the fall semester of 1990, he was still a team roper on the ENMU
Rodeo Team. He got a letterman's jacket for his membership on the rodeo
team. But meanwhile, the disease continued to advance. Ray said, 'There
was a bad scare when he was a junior in high school ... About every two
years, the doctors would shake their heads and say they didn't think
he'd live another two years." The doctors finally concluded. Ray said,
that Wes was "living on attitude." There was no other explanation.
He was hospitalized again and again. Several times, his family
recalled, he would say, "I have to be out by this date to be in a rodeo
or a show" - and he always made it. "There's been more than once that
we've taken him off IVs to let him run barrels," Ray said. On one
occasion, Ray went to Albuquerque on a motorcycle, checked Wes out of
the hospital, and brought him home for a rodeo. "He won barrels, Ray
said. "and I had him back (at the hospital) by 9 o'clock," It was what
Wes wanted. "He ran his own life," Ray said. But the disease was
gaining.
In 1990, he was hospitalized in August, in September, and in October.
At one point, when he was "real sick." Ray said, "He asked me if I
thought it was all worth it. I said 'Well, I don't know, Wes. When's
your next rodeo?'" February was a terrible month for the Brewer family.
Ray's mother (Wes' grandmother) Marie Brewer died on Feb. 10 at the age
of 71. Wes was in the hospital at the same time, and the rumors said he
would never come home. But he did -just once more - on Feb. 18. He spent
his last few days with care. Ray said he visited the stables twice. Once
sitting in his dad's pick- up truck with his breathing equipment next to
him, he chatted with friends about how he was feeling. The mood was
optimistic - as always. Last Saturday, Ray said. "We took him to
Albuquerque to the New Mexico High School Girls Basketball Tournament so
he could root Portales to a win." His cousin, Brenda Gomez, was the
coach. He had a good day or two in his last days at home, Ray said - but
on Thursday, at about 4 p.m., he began sinking. By 8 p.m., he was gone.
His family remembered him Friday as a young man who was close to both
of his parents, a person who cared more about others than about himself.
"If Wes had his wishes, Ray said, "he would... be remembered with a
smile - and active. Asked their advice for other parents who must deal
with a fatal illness in a child, both Ray and Ilene said they're glad
they helped Wes to live his life to the fullest "I wouldn't do it any
other way, Ilene said. Ray said, "Wes didn't want to be different from
anybody else - nor did he want to be treated differently... "He had an
amazing will power to overcome pain and reach his goals." Ray said. "He
was a special person who touched everyone he met in a special way...
"What he achieved in his life was important to him ... The disease
wasn't..."
Please share your memories of Wes. Write to
. Tributes will be posted here.
