Billy Ray Klapper

Billy Ray Klapper, legendary bit and spur maker, died on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at the age of 87, at his home in Pampa with his daughters by his side.

Services will be at 2:00 PM on Friday, September 13, 2024 at Briarwood Church with Pastor Ronnie Ferguson, retired pastor, and Johnny Trotter, Billy’s close friend, officiating. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors and Crematory. 

The family will receive friends from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM on Thursday, September 12, 2024 at the funeral home.

Billy was born on April 19, 1937 in Lazare to Phillip and Minnie Gooding Klapper. He attended schools in Lazare and Quanah. After high school, Billy started working as a ranch hand at the Buckle L Ranch in Childress and later at the Y Ranch in Paducah. Billy spent a great deal of time with the famous bit and spur maker, Adolph Bayers, and in 1966 he made his first pair of spurs. The demand for Billy’s spurs grew, and he started making gear full-time in 1968. He was well known in the ranching and cowboying industry and was one of the few bit and spur makers that still made one-piece spurs. Billy’s bits and spurs are now collected worldwide. He made 682 different spur patterns and 816 different bit patterns. His patterns have been used by bit and spur makers but have never been duplicated. Billy created his legacy and changed the cutting horse industry by listening to what the cowboys wanted and making functional bits for their horses. 

Billy met Roberta Watson in Amarillo through mutual friends and the two were married on February 2, 1973. They were married until her passing on August 6, 2021. Billy and Roberta enjoyed participating in the Pony Express Races, watching horse races, and going to bit and spur shows all over the state. He also enjoyed hunting, especially elk, mule deer, and aoudad. Billy will be remembered as a good man, a friend to all, and a most of all a true cowboy. He is going to be deeply missed by his family and friends. Billy put the “western” in western heritage for years and now he is a part of the heritage.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 48 years, Roberta Klapper; his parents, Phillip and Minnie Klapper; and four siblings, Dorothy Goodson, Joe Klapper, Gene Klapper, and Johnnie Taylor.

Billy is survived by his two daughters, Deborah Yeates and husband David of Victoria and Elizabeth Wilson of Palestine; six grandchildren, Rebecca Yeates, Darrel Yeates and wife Lauren, Mandy Wilson and husband James, Cody Ray Wilson and wife Christi, Dusty Wilson, and Drake Wilson and wife Brandy; nine great-grandchildren, Maddux Yeates, Daniel Yeates, Lacey Krawietz, Haylie Dixon, Hayden Dixon, Harlyn Ray Wilson, Gunner Wilson, Isabella Wilson, and Samantha Wilson; four stepchildren, Kathy Taylor and husband Charlie, Regina Dye, Glenda Briscoe, and Doug Watson; step-grandchildren, Autumn Sloan, Whitney Wagers, Dillon Dossey, Robby Briscoe, Lea Ann Joy, Terra Rhodes, Josalyn Penner, Shelton Watson, and Ricky Watson; and 23 step-great-grandchildren.

Billy’s pallbearers will be Cody Wilson, Dusty Wilson, Drake Wilson, Darrel Yeates, Hayden Dixon, and Robby Briscoe. The honorary pallbearers will be Maddux Yeates, Daniel Yeates, Gunner Wilson, Harlyn Wilson, Johnny Trotter, Cotton Elliott, Rick Crow, and Terry Stever.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude’s’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude’s Place, Memphis, Tennessee, 38105 or the National Ranching Heritage Center, 3121 4th St, Lubbock, Texas, 79409.