Don E. Mays

Don Eugene Mays has joined the great roundup above. He was born in Bakersfield, California on December 26, 1949, and died on October 14, 2025.

His younger years were spent working in feedlots and learning to cowboy. While at Cuyama High School he was a star running back, nicknamed Fleet-footed Mays. He received a scholarship to play football at California Polytechnic College where he completed a degree in Agriculture Business Management and was then hired as a cattle buyer for California Livestock Marketing Association.

While buying cattle in the northwest he met Paula Dunning at the Ellensburg Saleyard. They were married in 1975 and have three married sons and seven grandchildren: Tyler and Melinda Mays, parents of McKinley and Morgan; Marcus and Stacy Mays, parents of Cooper, Kyler and Claire; Miles and Amanda Mays, parents of Kemper and Kody.

Donnie swung a wide loop in the northwestern United States, rodeoing in younger days and cattle buying for the past 55 years. During his years competing at the Ellensburg Rodeo, he won both the Kittitas County Calf Roping and Wild Cow Milking Championships. Don was a member of the Washington, Oregon and California Cattlemen’s Associations and the Washington Cattle Feeders Association. Don was always progressive in the cattle business, usually ahead of his time. In the 1980s he graduated from a course in Holistic Resource Management and applied what he learned to ranches in the Kittitas Valley.

In 1994, Donnie built the first overseas cattle receiving station in the Pacific Northwest and began receiving cattle from Hawaii, numbering close to 200,000 head in 30 years. His family developed their cow herd using Black Angus genetics focusing heavily on maternal traits. Their stocker cattle ventures covered both Washington and Oregon. He was always looking for opportunities to tackle a new enterprise.

Roping, fishing, hunting and Dutch Oven cooking were his hobbies…along with driving. Telling stories, many of them true and a few that weren’t, was one of his favorite pastimes.

Don Mays was widely known as a wise and aggressive cattle buyer. He was a Northwest livestock industry icon.

Don’s family and close friends will honor his life in a private gathering.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Johnston & Williams of Ellensburg. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.johnston-williams.com