Dale Franklin Runnion

Dale F. Runnion, editor and publisher of purebred cattle magazines and noted breed promoter, died on June 11, 2016 in Longmont, Colorado at the age of 98. His death was announced by June Runnion, his wife of 48 years and partner in his publishing and business ventures.

Runnion started his career in livestock journalism in 1949 as field representative for the Chicago Drovers Journal. In 1952 he moved to the Aberdeen angus Journal where he rose from field man to Advertising Manager to Managing Editor. At the Angus Journal he recruited and trained a dynamic field force and instituted the Sire of the Year Award. In 1962 Angus registrations exceeded those of the Hereford breed, previously the most numerous.

His career took a different turn in 1968 when he accepted a position as Marketing Manager with Ankony Angus from Lee Leachman, a close friend since college. Ankony, was based in Rhinebeck, NY and was at that time a dominant force in registered Angus cattle business.

In 1971 Runnion returned to publishing in Ft. Collins, Colorado founding the International Limousin Journal, a magazine devoted to the French breed to cattle. Runnion’s editorial and marketing efforts were instrumental in promoting the growth of the Limousin breed in the U.S. throughout the 1970’s. He sold the Limousin Journal in 1979.

Eighteen months later he was approached by the American Angus Association about a consulting assignment to manage the Angus Journal, which represented the nation’s largest beef cattle breed. Dale worked in St. Joseph, Missouri for the next two years to improve the magazine’s performance.

In the interim, the Limousin Journal had faltered, and in 1983 Dale and Dan Wedman founded the Limousin World, which quickly became the official publication of the breed foundation. He remained publisher emeritus of the magazine until his death. Dale also served as Executive Vice President of the North American Limousin Foundation, and he edited and published the History of Limousin in North America.

Dale Franklin Runnion was born on August 23, 1917 on a 160-acre livestock and grain farm in Van Wert County, Ohio. He was the second child of Lester and Velma (Cooper) Runnion. While growing up, he was active in 4-H, showing steers at the county fair and judging livestock. In 1934 he and two Van Wert friends won the state judging competition and represented Ohio at the 4-H Congress at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago.

He attended the Ohio State University majoring in animal husbandry and meat science and was a member of livestock judging teams for three years. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1939, and worked as a cattle buyer before being drafted into the Army two years later.

He served most of World War II as a captain in a training battalion of the Medical Administration Corps in Abilene, Texas. In 1945 the battalion was deployed, and captain Runnion saw duty in the Pacific as the adjutant of the hospital on Iwo Jima. He was honorably discharged as a major in 1946.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Runnion’s portrait was hung in a collection of the Saddle and Sirloin Club in 1988. That collection is the world’s largest assemblage of quality individual portraits devoted to a single industry and resides at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville. He was President of the Livestock Publications Council, and France awarded him the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite Agricole. He was also inducted into the halls of fame of the North American Limousin Foundation, the American Angus Association and the Ohio State University Animal Science Department.

He married Ada Kline in 1940. They were divorced in 1967, and he married June Erickson in 1968. In addition to June, he is survived by his four children: Jim in Chicago, Joy Pruitt in Naples, Florida, daughter Lee in Lakewood, Colorado and John in Birmingham, Alabama as well as stepchildren Steven Erickson of Longmont and Karen Erickson of Ft. Collins, Colorado, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

He championed current news in breed publications and introduced innovations to improve publication efficiency, but he was perhaps best known for the people he recruited, trained and inspired. He had the ability to recognize, cultivate and motivate talented individuals. Coming out of the Depression era, he was especially proud of giving young people a job opportunity and helping them toward a productive career.

In his career he managed to combine traditional values learned on the family farm, the most current industry developments and the modern media sciences of advertising and marketing to promote the growth of the registered Angus and Limousin cattle breeds.

Fondly referred to as “Communicator Extraordinaire” by longtime friend C.K. “Sonny” Booth and a “Chief Motivator and Educator” by business partner Dan Wedman, Dale received accolades from cattle people both nationally and worldwide.

Private services will be held for the family on June 18th in Longmont, where Dale was a member of LifeBridge Christian Church.

Memorial donations may be made to TRU Hospice Care, 2594 Trailridge Drive East, Lafayette,CO 80026 or to Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity, 10101 Ambassador Drive, Kansas City, MO 64153, Attn: Dale F. Runnion Scholarship Fund.