Jim Humphreys

Who was Jim Humphreys?

James O'Neill Humphreys, Sr., usually known as Jim Humphreys, was a prominent Texas rancher and the former board chairman of the National Ranching Heritage Center, an entity of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. For some two decades, he was the manager of the large Pitchfork Ranch, with headquarters near Guthrie, the seat of King County, located east of Lubbock on the Texas South Plains. According to author Lawrence Clayton in Historic Ranches of Texas, Humphreys "came to be considered one of the major figures in Texas agriculture before his retirement from active management in 1986."

Humphreys was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to the late T.J. and Edna Humphreys. In 1940, he launched his studies at Texas Tech but was sidelined by service in the United States Army Medical Corps during World War II. He served with the 34th Infantry Division in Great Britain, North Africa, and Italy.

In 1947, he earned his bachelor of science degree in animal husbandry. After graduation, he joined the staff of Interstate National Bank in Kansas City but soon returned to the South Plains in 1948 to work at the Pitchfork. He was hired by manager Douglas Burns as the assistant in charge of hog operations. He soon mastered ranch operations and became the sixth manager of the Pitchfork when Burns retired to Lubbock but continued to advise the ranch as a director of the parent company. On June 9, 1951, he wed the former Berneice Anderson in Creighton, Missouri.²