1949 -
IGRA# 1412
First attended a gay rodeo in 1989
Inducted 2022
Dee (Dolores) Zuspann was born in 1949 in Fort Dodge, Iowa and is the oldest of 4 children. She was raised to love farming and school sports in a rural town. After graduating high school, she went to Chicago and spent 2 years at The Salvation Army School for Officer's Training. After completing training, she was first assigned to Detroit, Michigan and then to Wichita, Kansas, where Dee worked in the Army's "Home for Unwed Mothers."
Dee was married for a brief time but came to realize the life she was living was not a happy one. After coming out she found her love for the gay life and eventually gay rodeo. Dee joined the Kansas Gay Rodeo Association (KGRA) in the late 80's with Linn Copeland being the big driving force for Dee to become involved with KGRA. Soon after, Dee became part of the KGRA arena crew which traveled to work the arena at many rodeos on the IGRA Circuit. That is how Dee got the rodeo bug!
In 1991 Dee decided to run for a Royalty title and became Ms. KGRA. She enjoyed her year of traveling to rodeos representing the State of Kansas. Dee decided to compete at the International level and became Ms. IGRA for the 1992-1993 season.
Dee met Jonny Van Orman at the 1991 IGRA Finals Rodeo in Wichita, Kansas and later they were married.
Dee became more involved in rodeo by being a Timer and then training to become a Certified Scorekeeper. Wanting to be even more involved, Dee later became certified as a Judge, Secretary, Chute Coordinator and Arena Director. She found her home with the Judging and Arena Director positions and continues to be a certified Arena Director at the time of her Induction into the Hall of Fame. Being a semitruck driver for 29 years made it easier for Dee to attend a number of rodeos as an official by getting driving assignments that would take her to the rodeo city. It wasn't unusual to see her reefer trailer running to store food or ice to help out the association hosting the rodeo.
Now living in Branson, Missouri Dee works in the parking lot at "Silver Dollar City," which is a theme park near Branson. This job allows her to fulfill one of the biggest things on her bucket list: Time to enjoy retirement but also to enjoy watching the smiles on people's faces as they go in and out of the theme park.