It is with great sorrow and heavy hearts we announce the passing of Mike Weatherly, 82, of Las Cruces, NM. He was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandpa, great-grandpa, great-great-grandpa, brother, uncle, cousin, mentor and friend. He passed away on August 27, 2012 in his home in Las Cruces, surrounded by his admiring family. He was born January 16, 1930 in Waurika, Oklahoma to Rolla and Catherine Weatherly. He was raised by his loving sister, Fern, and her husband, Glen, in Ryan, OK after his mother passed away when he was thirteen years old. It was in Ryan that he grew up across the street from, and fell in love with, Wilma Jo Betts, whom he has been proudly married to for 62 years. He took his first job delivering newspapers at age seven. He started driving at age ten and eventually took his next job, during World War II, as a school bus driver at the age of fourteen. He bought and operated his own truck at the age of 19 and transported fresh fruit and vegetables. At age 20 he went to work for Haliburton in Snyder, Texas, cementing oil wells. Two years later he took a job with Standard Oil of California as a laborer and a natural gas plant operator. Simultaneously he began working at a dairy cow auction to supplement the income for his growing family. In 1960, at age thirty, he opened a private sales yard for dairy replacement heifers, called CF&W Cattle Company, in Chino, California. By 1969 he also had a cattle truck business and had become a commercial broker selling ranches, farms and dairies. In 1973 he and five partners built Bright Star Dairy in Mesquite, NM. In 1979 he and son, Michael, built Buena Vista Dairy, also in Mesquite. By 1982 he had sold the cattle broking business and moved to New Mexico, where he eventually bought and operated an additional dairy with son, Michael and daughter, Stacy. In 1990 he and a group of local businessmen bought the Bank of the Rio Grande. He remained on the board of directors at BRG for nine years. Mike also served on the boards for Dairy Farmers of America, two boards for United Dairymen Industry of America, and Milk Transport Service. After many years, he resigned from all six boards on the very same day. One of his true passions was horse-racing. It began in 1986 when his son, Michael, gave him a quarter horse. On any given weekend during his
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