On May 9, 2025, Shane Thomas Joseph passed away.
He was born to parents, Skip and Jean Joseph on December 15, 1972. Shane grew up in Great Falls with a rope in his hand and helping his dad training horses. In high school Shane developed his love for bulldogging and team roping. He played on the back-to-back state championship football team for CMR High School. After graduating high school in 1991, he went on to play football for Carroll College for four years. After his football career was done, he transferred to Montana State University to obtain his Civil Engineering degree and to also compete on the Rodeo team.
Shane worked for Peter Kewitt, Knife River, Simon Contractor, and finally Central Excavating in Great Falls. He was grateful for being able to see the countryside with his jobs, but he was glad to be back in Great Falls around family and friends. When Shane was in Wyoming, he was close enough to Montana to meet his Dad somewhere to go team roping. One of Shane’s favorite and happiest moments was finally winning a World Series Team Roping Qualifier in 2013 with his father, which qualified them for the Finals in Vegas. Shane also won a couple of National Championships at the Wrangler Team Roping Association.
His sister Nikole would always tell him he needed to pay her a percentage of his winnings for fixing his roping horse for him. He’d laugh and tell her she needed to pay him for breaking all her horses.
Shane and his niece Breklyne had a special bond. He made sure she had all the tools to become a team roper instead of a can chaser. After she won the Big Sky Little Britches Dummy Roping Championship he was in heaven and knew he had a team roping partner. Well, that was short lived, and she told him she’d pull the smartly, ride his horses, rope the dummy, and barrel race. The two of them would go out hunting together so she could get her buck, and they were planning on going Elk hunting but never got the chance.
Shane decided that he needed to invest in some steers for him and his friends to rope. If there was a kid around that wanted to learn how to rope, they were welcome. Shane would never turn a kid away if they had the desire to learn.
Shane was preceded in death by his parents, Skip and Jean Joseph; and grandparents, Richard and Bernice Joseph and Clark and Jean Guile.
He is survived by his sister, Nikole; niece, Breklyne; Uncle and Aunt Brian and Joan Remely; Aunt Marie; and numerous cousins.
A celebration of life will be Saturday August 16, 2025, at 1:00 pm at the Montana Expo Park “fairgrounds” in Great Falls, Montana.
Author: Staff
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