‘I’ll always be here.’ Coast fans remember beloved 83-year-old Mississippi rodeo clown.
State Rep. Randall Patterson of Biloxi was one of the last people to talk with beloved rodeo clown Lecile Harris, who died at age 83 after performing one last time at the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson.
Woolmarket resident Brad Fountain, 38, also saw Lecile at the rodeo, which he had attended with his parents and grandparents every year since he was a year old.
“My son and I were amongst the last in line and (got) maybe one of the last images of him before he took his makeup off for the last time,” Fountain wrote in an email to the Sun Herald. “I was going to continue to keep the tradition going with my son Rhett Fountain, age 2, and myself.
“Very sad moment, but I’m glad he lived a great life and we were glad to have shared one of those last memories with him.”
“His act might have been a clown, but behind that paint and makeup there was a great man that cared about bringing families together. Just really someone to look up to no matter your age.”
One final Dixie National Rodeo
Patterson also has admired Lecile for many years. They met and chatted twice while Patterson strolled the fairgrounds after finishing his duties at the Capitol.
Patterson saw Lecile at the fairgrounds before Tuesday’s rodeo and decided after the night’s performance that the Legislature should honor the clown from Lake Cormorant, Mississippi. Patterson’s plan was to get biographical information before the rodeo ended and present Lecile a resolution on the House floor in 2021.
He went to the fairgrounds Wednesday, finally locating Leclile in his hotel room near the fairgrounds.
The clown talked a little about himself. His parents had actually named him Cecil but the name was misspelled on his birth certificate, he told Patterson.
In elementary school, Lecile said in a YouTube video biography, kids called him Lucille, Lisa, Leslie.
“I learned to fight real early and most of it was over my name,” Lecile said in the video.
He went to his first rodeo to meet women, wound up riding a bull and liked it, he said. He started working the rodeo 64 years ago as a bullfighter.
He explains at the beginning of the video: “There’s no greater feeling, I think, than when you see a cowboy, a bull rider, in trouble to get yourself in there and maneuver that bull away by drawing him to you — maneuver him away and let him go free and then be able to work yourself out of that position and then top that off with a little piece of comedy — is just the ultimate.”
Injuries ended clown’s bullfighting
The clown costume worked its way into his bullfighting, he said, because it’s easier on the eyes to see someone in funny makeup get hit by a bull.
At age 52, Lecile said, one “lick” from a bull broke his pelvis, ankle and four ribs, tore up his knee and gave him a concussion. That’s when he switched to clowning full time, he said in the video.
Comedy, he said, is a lot harder to master than bullfighting. But he was really good at it, Patterson and Fountain said.
Lecile kept the kids laughing while also managing to work in subtle jokes for the grownups, always keeping it clean.
Patterson said that he and Lecile visited for about 10 minutes Wednesday afternoon, then the clown left for the rodeo. Lecile was humble, Patterson said, and appreciated the Legislature wanting to honor him.
“I told him, ‘Well, I’m going to go. We’ll get this paperwork finished and when y’all come back next year we’ll get this done.’ ”
Now, Patterson says, he wishes he had gone to the rodeo again Wednesday night so he could have seen Lecile perform one last time.
Lecile planned to be back
For Fountain, Lecile’s death brings up memories of the grandfather with whom he enjoyed so many rodeos. Fountain said he lost his grandfather 10 months ago.
Fountain will remember the visit that he and son Rhett shared with Lecile. Rhett will always have the photographs they took, and his father’s stories about Lecille and the rodeo, even if he has no clear memory of meeting the clown.
“He signed my son’s hat and talked for 10 minutes and I just felt like I’ve known him my entire life,” Fountain wrote. “Before we left, I shook his hand again and he asked if there was anything else he could do or sign before he moved on to the next in line.
“I said, ‘Just promise us you will be here again next year is all.’
“His answer was, ‘I’ll always be here.’ And then (he) said, ‘You just keep bringing up that of son of yours the way you are and I’ll see y’all soon.’ ”
This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
