I had the honour ad pleasure of interviewing Elda for the film in the summer of 2022.
Her daughter Donna posted the following on September 14, 2023
This lady left us last night just after 11pm at the young age of 84. She waited til she had heard from all of us and we were all gone for the day and then she slipped away …. just like she did most things, in her own time and as a last act of the independence she so cherished.
She was a force to be reckoned with in her rodeo office and her trailer. Many a cowboy learned that his shiny buckle didn’t impress the little Italian woman near as much as his humility. One of the kindest and fairest women I’ve ever known. She could not lie and always told Bearman where dad n the others had hid ole Junior. She was tuff as nails, even with a 9 inch rod in her back she still worked twice as hard as most of us.
My mama was a seamstress, she made jeans and shirts and even the CS & Ex. “Pimple” suits – lol !!
She was a nurse in every sense of the word, be it a horse or a human. She had the respect of everyone she met and she was the backbone of Big Country Rodeo.
Elda Judy Turcato Weatherly was my mom by birth, but she was many many rodeo kids mama’s too, some young and some old enough to know better. She fed an army at most rodeos and there was always room for one more at her table.
We will celebrate her life on September 25th at 2pm in Stettler. The venue remains to be determined but I’ll post it as soon as we know.
I’m sure there’s a rodeo up there with a new secretary, that don’t take no shit !! And an old cowboy fella named Stan that knows the jig is totally up.