The Madera County Cattlemen’s Association hosted its annual dinner at the Encore Event Center (1187 S. Granada Drive), and honored individuals who have supported the cattle industry.
The dinner was held October 3, with hosted cocktails and a dinner.
Cattlemen of the Year
Cecil Hillerman was born and raised in Coarsegold, the youngest son of Bill and Connie Hillerman.
The Hillerman family traveled a long, circuitous journey to finally put down roots in Coarsegold.
First, in Maryland in the early 1940’s, Cecil’s grandfather died at a young age with an untimely death on the Chesapeake Bay. This precipitated his brother, also Cecil Hillerman after whom Cecil is named, to come to Maryland, gather up his sister-in-law and children (the eldest was Bill at 11 years old), and return them to Oklahoma.
Throughout the years, the family moved to Long Beach and, finally, the ranch in Coarsegold.
Cecil grew up alongside his brother, Chris, and other siblings on the original family ranch his parents purchased helping his father, Bill, learning, and loving ranch life.
Cecil has loved cattle and horses from the beginning. Just after graduating from eighth grade, his father sent him with a suitcase and saddle to Oklahoma to spend his summer with his great uncle, Cecil, so he could learn to properly ride cutting horses.
It wasn’t long before Cecil was training, and showing cutting horses after spending all his high school summers in Oklahoma. He continued to show cutting horses into his early 20s. At the peak of his participation in the cutting horse showings, he was ranked 10th in his age division across the county.
Cecil begged his father and great uncle to allow him to bring his horse to California, and prevailed; therefore, repeating the same journey his grandmother and father had made years prior.
Cecil also served as the operations manager for the National Reining Cow Horse Association and Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association for several years.
At 16 years old, Cecil bought his first set of cows, and in 1989 formed Son’s and Hillerman Cattle Company with his father, Bill, and brother, Chris. Ever the energetic person, Cecil applied, and became employed by the Madera County Road Department.
During this time period, they purchased the ranch south of Coarsegold and, together, Cecil and Chris built the pipe corrals on a cement foundation after hours and on the weekends.
Cecil continued to work for the Madera County Road Department with a very good career for 25 years while managing the family ranch business.
Cecil married Kristin Anderson from Redding in 1993. Two years later, Cecil built their home with the help of Chris and Bill and again, after work hours with the Road Department and on the weekends. Cecil and Kristin started their family on the ranch, raising their two sons, Reid and Riley, in the family ranch tradition.
Reid and Riley are now partners with Bill and Cecil in the family cattle business, which has grown from an initial purchase by a young person to supporting the Hillerman family.
Chris was born to Bill and Connie Hillerman in 1961. Chris’s ranching started at an early age. He bought his first cows in 1976 when he was 15 years old.
He decided he was tired of just helping his dad raise his cattle, so Bill took Chris down to the Production Credit Association, and Chris got a line of credit for $10,000. They went to the sale barn and bought 25 head of cows.
Chris took care of the cows for a year, then took them to the sale. After Chris paid off his loan, he was left with a whopping $125. He was pretty proud until Bill reminded him that he still hadn’t paid for his feed, fuel, and other associated expenses. Chris didn’t know how he was going to pay all that debt off, so Bill told him that he could just work it off… for the next couple of years.
After high school, Chris continued his education at Fresno City College where he studied automotive mechanics. Following in the footsteps of his father and 11 other family members, he then became an ironworker.
Chris married his high school sweetheart Jamie McKee in 1984. They had two daughters, Lacie, who was born in 1986, and Ellie, who was born in 1989. Chris and Jamie bought a small herd of cattle and continued ranching. His ironworking career spanned the next 31 years, while he continued to raise cattle and ranch on the weekends.
In 1989, Bill Hillerman and his sons, Chris and Cecil, bought the family ranch, expanded their operation and became Sons and Hillerman. Chris and Jamie built their home in 1991, and raised their daughters on the ranch.
When the girls were young, they helped feed, check, and work cattle. Chris would put the truck in 4 low and told them to just steer in a big circle while he fed the cattle and please avoid the rocks. The girls learned how to count by counting cattle when feeding them.
Chris’s favorite thing to do was spend time working and playing with the girls on the ranch. He was very close with his brother Cecil’s boys, Reid and Riley, and loved helping and watching them grow. He enjoyed working with his brother Cecil and father Bill. Ranching and working with his family was a blessing that Chris was very thankful for. Chris passed away in January 2013.
Cowboy of the Year
Sparky Philp grew up in Raymond. His family were cattle ranchers. He has spent his entire life around cattle and horses.
His father, Everett Philp, ran cattle during the summer on a 20 square mile summer permit bordering Yosemite.
As a child, Sparky’s summers were spent at their cow camp and he rode on all the cattle drives. The cows and calves were gathered and moved by cowboys (and girls) between their summer range, to their Ahwahnee ranch in the fall and spring, and then to their Raymond ranch for the winter.
Sparky’s dad was a past Cattleman of the Year and his brother, Al Philp, was a past Cowboy of the Year.
In 1969, after his service in Vietnam, Sparky began a ‘brief’ rodeo career at the nightly rodeo in Cody, Wyoming. After three weeks, he was completely broke, and hitch-hiked back to Jackson Lake Lodge where his good friend, George Barnett, was working.
There, he took a job at the horse stable for the summer, and met Simon, a horseshoer, that wanted to go to California. The following winter, Sparky worked for Jack Spillane at the Raymond Cattle Company, and practiced team roping with Simon at Ernie Harlow’s arena.
In May 1970, Sparky and Simon headed back to Jackson Hole to team rope and shoe horses.
In July, he fell in love with a girl, Karen, working at the Cowboy Bar. The two married on Aug. 31,1970, and just celebrated their fifty-sixth anniversary. They have three children, Hayley, Eric, and Ryan, and seven grandchildren.
Through the next 14 years, Sparky attended Merced College Horseshoeing Program, worked on several cattle and horse ranches in Madera County, drove for United Vintner’s Trucking, and shod horses when he had the time.
He began his full-time horseshoeing business when Karen became a Registered Nurse. He shod horses for thirty-six years (and now, still a few on the side!) covering many horse and cattle ranches throughout the San Joaquin Valley, veterinarians, and many pack stations on both sides of the Sierras. Sparky wants everyone to know that he has enjoyed and appreciated every minute of the journey.
Friend of the Madera County Animal Industry
Anne Deniz grew up in the Madera Ranchos and he started riding horses at the age of five and by nine, she had her own.
She became extremely active in 4-H, and raised and showed horses, rabbits, hogs, lambs, and eventually market steers her junior and senior years of high school.
In the 1970s her grandfather, John Katuin, began working cattle on the side for his neighbor, Bob Smith and the Smith Ranch, and eventually ran his own herd on the Fenston Ranch from about 1976 until the early 90s.
Her dad, Curt, showed steers in 4-H and FFA, as well as three registered Herefords until 1975, and ran his own load of feeders in the winter of 1976/77.
Growing up knowing that her dad and grandfather had ran cattle always made her a little sad that they hadn’t stayed in the business.
But, when Anne and her brother started to show steers, they used their dad’s old home-made tack box, his Oster clippers, and leather show halter. Her steers were her favorite projects, and she wishes she had started raising them earlier.
Anne attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, majoring in Ag Science and Ag Education. While at Cal Poly, she participated in the Beef Heifer Breaking Enterprise and the Swanton Pacific Stocker Enterprise.
After graduating and earning her teaching credentials, Anne returned home to be a high school ag education teacher at Liberty High School. She taught all the sciences, animal science, vet science, and floral design, and at some point or another in her 12 years supervised every type of livestock project.
When Anne left her teaching career, she knew that she still wanted to be involved in agriculture and ag advocacy.
This led her into two new ventures, Grower Relations for Madera County Farm Bureau and Livestock Superintendent for the Madera District Fair. Both of these positions allow her to continue to be involved with all sectors of agriculture, including beef cattle.
She has enjoyed “field trip days” that have included helping load out beef cattle from a local ranch and assisting with the judging of beef carcasses post fair. She also brought back the Bred & Fed Market Beef contest at the Madera Fair, and is thankful for MCCA and MCFB’s sponsorships.
Anne looks forward to continuing to advocate for our local agriculture industry and can’t wait to see her son Lincoln show his first bred and fed beef project in just a few years as he already enjoys watching his cow that his uncle gave raise a calf every year.
MCCA scholarships
The Madera County Cattlemen’s Association had some outstanding applicants for the 2026 scholarship program. They awarded a four-year scholarship for $2,000 per year, a Millie Meders Scholarship for $2,000, a $2,500 Mike Urruitia Scholarship and a trade school scholarship for $2,000. This year, a four-year Will Gill Scholarship for $2,000 a year was added to the program.
The MCCA four-year scholarship was awarded to Victoria Herd from Madera South High School. She was active in her local 4-H chapter and FFA program. She enjoyed doing community service, volunteering at Madera Rescue Mission and the Madera Animal Shelter. She plans to attend Oklahoma State University and major in Animal Science.
The Millie Meders Scholarship was awarded to Colie Tickel from Liberty High School. She was the FFA Chapter President, and attended many FFA events and conferences. Her experience in FFA and 4-H strengths her leadership skills, responsibility and the willingness to help others. She plans to attend a four-year university, and major in Agricultural Education.
The Trade School Scholarship was awarded to Shyanne Cosca who will be attending Madera Community College where she will be studying technical careers and trade. Shyanne graduated from Minarets High School, and has been active in FFA and many community service activities.
The Mike Urrutia Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Noah Linderholm from Minarets High School. He was active in his FFA chapter, and searched for way to give back to his community through service projects. Noah enjoyed working with local ranchers to help with branding seasons and cattle operations. He will be attending California State University of Fresno and majoring in Agriculture Business.
The Will Gill four-year scholarship was awarded to Sophia Sisil from Liberty High School who has been very active in FFA holding offices all four years and being a part of many clubs on campus. In her time in FFA, Sophia has achieved many awards and recognitions. She will be attending Oklahoma State University and majoring in Agricultural Education.