On the outskirts of Winchester on a Friday afternoon, Zach and Katie Wills packed a trailer: four horses, two hay bales and three roping dummies.
They were heading to a junior rodeo competition for their children, Krece, 14, and Dally, 8, to compete in roping, pole bending and barrel racing.
Zach Mills has loved rodeo for as long as he can remember. The smells of stables, ranches and hot shoeing are all too familiar to him, he said. Katie has competed in barrel racing and runs her own business, Triple Bar W Ranch, where she cares for client horses, breeds horses and leads practice sessions.
Their kids inherited their passion for rodeo early and regularly practice at the ranch.
Weekdays, Zach manages the Winchester Cemetery, the area’s largest, and has been doing so for 16 years. He keeps cemetery grounds clean, meets with grieving families, and designs tombstones. He describes his job as “fairly sad.”
“I could bury an infant and a 90-year-old on the same day,” Zach said.
Despite dealing with death daily, he cares deeply about the families he works with because he has lived it. Deep inside the cemetery grounds lies Zach’s and Katie’s daughter, whom they lost at birth.
Both of Zach’s roles require guiding people. Passing on his passion for rodeo to his two kids taught them responsibility early on, he said. He sees that Krece and Dally have grown to appreciate ranch life and are always eager to brush and mount their horses.
“If I can help people, guide them, it makes a big impact on me,” Zach said.