THIS WEEK'S FEATURED STORIES
brought to you by Belesemo Arabians
Breeding Arabian horses for temperament and athleticism
Frederick Cluskey 1944-2026
TheVillagesDailySun.com
Sep 15, 2026
BRIMFIELD - Frederick Joseph "Fred" Cluskey, formerly of Brimfield, Illinois, passed away on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at his home in The Villages, Florida.
Fred was born in Peoria, Illinois, on February 20, 1944, the son of Wilbur H. and Dorothy R. (Stenger) Cluskey.
Fred is survived by his three sons, Eric J. (Dawn) Cluskey of New Jersey, Kenneth J. (Lisa) Cluskey of Washington, D.C., and Paul E. (Jill) Cluskey of Jackson, Wyoming; two grandsons, Paul E. Cluskey Jr. and William F. Cluskey; his brother, George (Linda) Cluskey; four sisters, Mary Ann Koehler, Carol Jensen, Jan McCaw, and Fran Litherland; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Charles Cluskey; his sister-in-law, Marie Cluskey; and three brothers-in-law, Norman Koehler, Chris Jensen, and John Litherland.
Fred proudly served his country as an Officer in the United States Army, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant. He served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service.
Fred originally hoped to become a veterinarian, but he did not have the financial means to pursue college on his own. An opportunity came when he was awarded a scholarship to the University of Illinois to study Dairy Technology. Fred embraced that opportunity, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Dairy Technology and setting the course for what would become a successful career in the food industry. While at the University of Illinois, he was a member of Nabor House Fraternity and Alpha Zeta. He later earned a master's degree in Food Science from the University of Minnesota.
Fred began his professional career with Land O'Lakes. After a number of years there, he joined Dairyland Products, then a small food-ingredient company. Combining his scientific background with his business career, Fred played an important role in helping grow Dairyland into a highly successful ingredient company. Dairyland became a major supplier of ingredients to Thompson Medical for Slim-Fast, and Fred helped develop the final formula for the product. He eventually served as Executive Vice President of Dairyland Products. Following the successful growth and eventual sale of the company to Kerry Foods of Ireland, Fred retired from his business career at the age of 49 and turned his attention to another of his great passions: horses.
Fred's interest in horses went far beyond recreational riding. During his years in Minnesota, he was a member of the Orchard Rangers Horse Club and served with the Mounted Patrol. In retirement, horses became an even greater part of his life. He spent years training and riding Arabian horses, trail riding throughout the American West and competing in team penning before eventually focusing on the demanding sport of endurance riding.
Fred was drawn to the challenge of endurance racing and competed numerous times in the legendary Tevis Cup, a grueling 100-mile endurance ride through the Sierra Nevada mountains, successfully completing the race twice. As he grew older and retired from competitive endurance riding, he remained closely involved with the sport. He later served as one of the judges responsible for helping select the riders who would represent the United States in international endurance competition and accompanied the U.S. team to Dubai for an international race.
Fred was a loving father who took great pride in his three sons and the lives and families they built. He taught his boys the importance of hard work, preparation, and making the most of the opportunities that came their way. One lesson he often shared with them was that "luck is when preparation meets opportunity." It was a philosophy reflected in Fred's own life and one he worked to pass along to his sons.
Fred also kept another set of words close throughout his life, displaying them on plaques in his home: "I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." The words reflected an outlook on life that was important to Fred and one that those closest to him came to know well.
Fred especially treasured the time he spent with his grandsons, Paul and Will. He was a devoted and involved grandfather who made being part of their lives a priority. Over the years, he traveled countless miles to be there for them, attending their games and sporting events from their youth years through college. He took tremendous pride in watching them grow and compete, but even more simply spending time with them and being part of their lives. His grandsons were a great source of pride and joy to him, and the many years and experiences they shared were among the most meaningful of his life.
In his later years, Fred greatly enjoyed his home in The Villages, Florida, where he spent part of each year and valued the community and friendships he found there. He divided his time so that he could spend roughly half the year closer to his grandsons. It was a balance that suited Fred well enjoying the life and friendships he had built in Florida while continuing to make time with his family an important part of his life.
Celebration of Life
Family and friends are invited to gather for a Celebration of Life for Fred on Saturday, September 19, 2026, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn & Suites Peoria at Grand Prairie, 7601 N. Orange Prairie Road, Peoria, Illinois 61615.
Dinner and drinks will be served as family and friends gather to share memories, stories, and celebrate Fred's life.
Graveside Service
A graveside service with military honors will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 20, 2026, at Calvary Cemetery, 13010 N. Maher Road, Brimfield, Illinois 61517. Certified Funeral Celebrant Nicole Reed will officiate. Golnick Family Funeral & Cremation Services (formerly Haskell) in Princeville is assisting the family with arrangements.
Condolences may be left for Fred's family on his tribute wall at Golnick Family Funeral & Cremation Services.
Jack Evers 1938-2026
Legacy.com
September 3 2026
Obituary published on Legacy.com by Montgomery-Stryker Funeral Home
John "Jack" Evers was born on April Fool's Day 1938, in Topeka, Kansas; within weeks of his birth, he came home to Green River, where his family has deep roots, dating back to the 1870s.
A lifelong horseman, little Jackie got his first semi-wild pony at age six and rode it through the streets of town. At age seven, he lost his mother to cancer.
As a student at Green River High School, Jack played football, participated in track, and served as student body president. After graduation, in 1956, he enrolled at the Colorado School of Mines, where he played varsity football, boxed, and wrestled on a club basis. He was a member of the 1958 RMFAC championship and Hall of Fame Football Team. He received a professional engineering degree in petroleum engineering in 1960 and went to work in Texas and Oklahoma for the Atlantic Company, later known as ARCO and Atlantic Richfield.
After a brief stint in the US Army, Jack married the former Ann Wilkinson. Their marriage lasted 30 years, produced a daughter, Chia Lynn, and ended amicably. A return to school resulted in a PhD from the University of Kansas. In 1970, Jack became an assistant professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Wyoming, where he advanced through the ranks to serve as department head, 1980–1986.
Jack retired from UW (for the first time) in 1996 and spent 10 years traveling the world with his partner, Lydia Dambekalns, and teaching industrial courses. His travels included destinations in the US, Canada, Columbia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Hungary, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sudan, Libya, Trinidad-Tobago, India, Hungary, and Indonesia. He returned to UW in 2006 on a part-time basis and earned the Outstanding Petroleum Engineering Teaching Award in 2008 and the Outstanding Undergraduate Engineering College Teaching Award before retiring (again) in 2015.
Never content with only one career, Jack also became a professional farrier and the first AFA-certified journeyman farrier in Wyoming. He served as farrier for the United States team at three World Championships - in Barcelona, Spain in 1992, the Netherlands in 1994, and the US in 1996 - as well as working for the Mountain Zone team at the Pan American Championships in 2003 and the North American Championships in 2005.
In addition to his professional endeavors, Jack spent his life in various horse-related competitions, starting with rodeo - both roping and bronc riding; horseshowing; jumping and dressage competitions; and, finally, endurance racing. At the age of 72, he received his third buckle in the Western States 100-mile race, also known as the Tevis Cup. He logged nearly 5,000 race miles over the course of his endurance career, on his home-bred Arabian horses
Jack's interests in retirement years remained broad: current world events, the Laramie Foreign Foods group, solving complicated math puzzles for fun, reading books about Wyoming, and Rising Moon Ranch work with Lydia.
In 2016, Jack was inducted into the Green River High School Hall of Fame. Much of this obituary was drawn, at his request, from the biography he prepared for that event.
Jack Evers passed away after a brief illness on September 1, 2026 in Laramie. He is survived by his partner Lydia Dambekalns, daughter Chia Evers, son-in-law Dan Novy, foster son Tom Eickbush, and daughter-in-law Mechelle Eickbush.
A celebration of life will be held in early November.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor may be made to any education- or animal-related charity of your choice.
Copyright Montgomery Stryker Funeral Home
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Matt Scribner named new Ride Director for Tevis Cup
TevisCup.org
August 7 2026
The Western States Trail Foundation would like to formally announce longtime Tevis supporter, Matt Scribner, as the new Ride Director for the Tevis Cup! He will replace 15-year director Chuck Stalley, who retired after this year’s event.
Matt Scribner was born and raised in Auburn, California and his connection to the Tevis Trail and the Western States 100 Mile Ride is life-long. As a child Matt rode the trail with pack horses and in 1994 earned the first of his seven Tevis buckles.
Matt’s professional life has been devoted to horses. With the exception of serving in the US Army for four years, Matt has been a farrier and trainer focused on endurance horses. For the last twenty years he, and his wife Leigh, have worked side by side to develop safe and sound endurance horses and to help mentor new riders so that they too can successfully navigate the challenges of endurance riding.
Congratulations, Matt!
US Equestrian Announces U.S. Endurance Team Short List for 2026 FEI Endurance World Championship
by US Equestrian Communications Dept. | 7/29/2026
Lexington, Ky. - US Equestrian is pleased to announce the combinations named to the U.S. Endurance Team Short List for the 2026 FEI Endurance World Championship in Butheeb, UAE on December 19, 2026. The team will be led by Chef d'Equipe Jeffrey Stuart, Team Veterinarian Dr. Olivia Rudolphi, and Team Leader Nicole Zerbee.
The following unranked athlete-and-horse combinations have been selected to the U.S. Endurance Team Short List for the 2026 FEI Endurance World Championships and are listed in alphabetical order.
Niki Beck (Ocala, Fla.) and her own Majestic Cloudy Boy, a 2009 Appaloosa/Arabian cross gelding (Majestic Prince x Comanche Lady)
AnnaMaria Clarke (Davis, Va.) and Ole Gold, a 2016 Arabian gelding (Sand Tiki Special x Mags Rega Roya) owned by Valerie Kanavy, and Southern Justice, a 2012 Arabian gelding (PA Gazsi x PA Ecolina) owned by Valerie Kanavy and Dessia Miller
Heather Davis (The Plains, Va.) and SM Mi Anay, a 2015 Arabian mare (SM Mi Lord x Anay Fatima) owned by Haras Paso Manzanero
Mollie Quiroz (San Leandro, Calif.) and Highh Visibility, a 2017 Arabian mare (Vangogh FPA x Alla Masquerade) owned by Samantha Ellis
Heather Reynolds (Dunnellon, Fla.) and Supersonic Zell, a 2012 Arabian gelding (SW Zell x Just N Tyme) owned by Heather Reynolds, Jeremy Reynolds, and Zhaoyi Cheng
Jeremy Reynolds (Dunnellon, Fla.) and Treasured Moments, a 2010 Arabian mare (Da Adios +/ x Hidden Treasure) owned by Jeremy Reynolds and Heather Reynolds
Kelsey Russell (Williston, Fla.) and Juno Im Gold, a 2015 Half-Arabian gelding (Flash Golden x LM Parys) owned by Valerie Kanavy
Alex Shampoe (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Authentic Gold, a 2016 Anglo-Arabian gelding (Flash Goldon x Rhain) owned by Wendy Maccoubrey
Meg Sleeper (Frenchtown, N.J.) and her own Belesema Sapphire, a 2012 Arabian mare (Belesemo Magic x Cal Flaming Emit) and Syrocco Serenade, a 2015 Arabian mare (Syrocco Troubador x Syrocco Renaissance)
Nicole Wertz (Auburn, Calif.) and her own Little Sammy SV, a 2015 Arabian gelding (Sammy V x Zans Little Wing)
The following ranked combination has been selected as the first alternate.
Holly Corcoran (Allentown, Pa.) and her own Lorienn, a 2012 Arabian mare (Syndicat x Lothlorienn)
Competition Information:
The 2026 FEI Endurance World Championship will take place in Butheeb, UAE on December 19, 2026.
Event Website
For more information see:
https://www.usef.org/media/press-releases/us-equestrian-announces-us-enduranceteamshort