Brahman Hall of Fame Inductee Coleman Locke

Coleman Hudgins Locke of Hungerford, Texas will be inducted in the American Brahman Breeders Association (ABBA) Hall of Fame on Wednesday, March 1 during the ABBA Annual Meeting.

“Coleman has exhibited a lifelong dedication to the Brahman breed as well as the Texas and national livestock industry with support and service on numerous membership boards,” ABBA Executive Vice President Joe Paschal said.

Coleman was born in 1944 to Eleanor Hudgins Locke and Leon L. Locke.

“Brahmans have been my life,” Coleman said. “I’m proud and grateful to be a fifth-generation breeder. I’ve never known anything else as I’ve always been around Brahman cattle. They are a part of my life and my being.”

Coleman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Abilene Christian University in 1965.

He has spent his life ranching in Wharton County. He has served on the Board of Directors of J.D. Hudgins, Inc. since 1987 and is currently its President. He and son John Coleman Locke manage the Locke Division of J.D. Hudgins.

The Locke Division bred the world renowned +JDH MR ELMO MANSO 309/4, a +JDH SIR LAWFORD MANSO 616/6 son out of their Vanguard cow $JDH LADY ELLIS MANSO 178/2. Elmo won the 2008 National Grand Champion title and is the sire and grandsire to elite champions around the globe. He sired the 2014 Houston International Grand Champion Female JDH LADY BABETTE MANSO, the 2015 International Grand Champion Red Female LB LADY VIOLET MANSO, as well as the famous +BRC NOBLE 458/7 to name a few.

Although JDH Locke-branded cattle have been successful in the showring, Coleman prioritizes the importance of breeding efficient, practical cattle that will work well in the beef industry. Coleman has traveled across the United States, Mexico, all Central America as well as Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, the Philippines, South Africa and Australia marketing Brahman cattle.

He is known across the world as a champion of the Brahman breed. After the closure of the United States’ borders following a cow identified with BSE in 2003, Coleman worked tirelessly with both the United States Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of Agriculture to re-open borders for live cattle exports from the United States. In 2008, the United States’ southern border with Mexico was re-opened.

Coleman was president of the ABBA, serving from 1999 to 2001. “During my term as ABBA President, I really loved getting to travel and meet so many wonderful people,” Coleman said. “I especially enjoyed representing the ABBA at the South African World Brahman Congress.”

Coleman is a past President of the Texas Brahman Association. He is an honorary director of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, a lifetime committeeman of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and a past chairman of the Texas Beef Council and the Beef Promotion and Research Council of Texas.

In April 2004, Governor Rick Perry appointed him to the Texas Animal Health Commission to represent the beef cattle sector of the livestock industry. He was reappointed and named chairman of the Commission in 2015 and again reappointed in 2021. Coleman is committed to public service in Wharton County and across Texas.

He served for 15 years on the school board for the Wharton Independent School District and also served a term on the Texas Association of School Boards. After Hurricane Ike devastated the Texas Gulf Coast, thousands of cattle were displaced, miles of fence were swept away, and tens of thousands of acres of pasture were ruined from saltwater flooding. With both a personal connection to families who lost everything and a larger connection to ranching families in general, Coleman helped the efforts of a state-wide aid and public awareness operation for the affected families and livestock.

He was one of the first ranchers to donate hay to be trucked to the regions hardest hit, and he spent countless hours arranging for other donations. He again was a leader for the Gulf Coast after the catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 working with ranchers and state emergency personnel helping organize relief. When he is not working on the ranch, Coleman, an accomplished musician, is Principal Tuba for the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra, having played with them since 2002. He is a lifelong member of the Abell Street Church of Christ where he frequently leads singing on Sunday mornings.

Coleman and his wife Regina have been married for 51 years and have four children: daughters Elizabeth Hoskins and husband Tito of New Braunfels; Laura Field and husband Tom of Raymond, Nebraska; Gayle DeBerry of Sealy; son John Coleman and wife Salina of Hungerford. They are blessed with 12 grandchildren. “I’m extremely honored to be selected for induction into the Hall of Fame,” Coleman said. “I am grateful to join the list of such high achievers and elite breeders.”