Artist: Richard Stewart Halstead (born 1947)
Ray E. Sims
SIMS, EMMETT RAY (1922–2012), inducted 2010
When he returned from military service in World War II, Colonel Ray Sims was introduced to the seedstock auction business. At that time, cattle sales were slow-paced and leisurely, with 50 to 60 animals offered over the course of a four- or five-hour stretch. Ray Sims changed all of that, developing a signature auctioneering style marked by rapid, rhythmic chant and enthusiastic delivery. The 1956 country music hit, “The Auctioneer,” by Leroy Van Dyke and Buddy Black, was written about him. His career coincided with the rise of the Angus breed, and he revolutionized purebred sales, cutting auction time in half, engaging buyers in the excitement, and elevating prices for sellers. Over the course of his 46-year career, Ray Sims presided over an estimated 7,000 auctions, including sales for three US Presidents. This National Auctioneers Association Hall of Famer was the first auctioneer in more than 50 years to be honored in the Saddle & Sirloin Club Portrait Collection. In 1986, Ray Sims retired to his ranch in Raymore, Missouri. He died in 2012.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 179