Tommy Todd Tenney

Tommy ‘Todd’ Tenney departed this life at age 79, on January 11, 2026, and has gone to reunite with his parents, Alaire and Lyman Tenney, and adopted brother Cody. Todd leaves behind his loving wife Peta-Anne, two sons Jacob Lyman T. Tenney (Renae) and Cotton Logan T. Tenney (Liz), eight granddaughters: Arianna Marie, Madison Elizabeth, Kennedy Brianne, McKinley Rose, Kauri Hope, Liberty Monroe, Nixon Alaire and Carter Claire, and a grandson, Harrison Logan T. Tenney. He is survived by his brother Jimmy Lyman Tenney and half-brother James Clifton Minyard of Texas. Todd was born on December 14, 1946, lived his early years on the BarHL Ranch in the Winchester Mountains, attended school in Willcox, Prescott, and Imperial Valley, California, and graduated from Willcox High School in 1964. He spent many summers on the Muleshoe Ranch with his grandparents, J. E. and Polly Browning, and enjoyed hunting. In 1967 he joined his parents in Australia where they worked on Wollogorang, an outback cattle station. When his father was injured, he assumed management of the 1,250,000-acre station until Lyman returned. During 1968-69 Todd worked at Mt. Isa Mines, at levels down to 3,700 feet below ground. After that he was a contract fencer and built 80 miles of fence in Queensland’s tropical Far North, and in the Northern Territory. During 1969 Todd and his father gave a demonstration of team roping at Mt. Isa Rodeo, and the following year the Australian Rough Riders Assn. adopted team roping as an official event in Australian rodeo. In 1971 Todd married Peta-Anne Miller and together they became Australia’s leading horse photographers. In 1973 they started publishing Australia’s Western Horsemen magazine, and annual Stallion Directories – promoting the ‘new’ western horsemanship in Australia and furthering the Quarter Horse, Appaloosa and Paint Horse breeds. In 1973 Todd and Peta-Anne, and Lyman and Alaire, founded the Paint Horse Assn. of Australia and imported two Paint stallions from Arizona. In appreciation of his efforts to found and promote the Paint Horse, Todd was inducted into the PHAA Hall of Fame in 2018. Returning to Willcox in 1983 Todd coached Little League baseball, and worked as a bus driver for Willcox Schools, Chicanos por la Causa and the Willcox Head Start. In the late 1990s he very much enjoyed riding his Honda ST1100 motorcycle with Peta and friends. He retired in 2017, and enjoyed his grandchildren, reading almost anything newsworthy online, and was a fan of ‘Itchy Boots’. The last few weeks he had spent a lot of time reading through Peta’s monthly newsletters to family and looking at family photos. Todd was much loved and will be greatly missed by all his family and friends.

Tommy Todd Tenney

December 14, 1946 - January 11, 2026