From the Fall 2025 issue of the Isa Informer

Two to Heaven: Honoring Annette and Laurie Lasater—two lives well lived

By Isabel Lasater Hernandez, Vice President

In 1979 Mom penned her memoir, Two to Mexico, capturing the colorful stories of living and ranching in Mexico. This year our family story should be titled Two to Heaven, as Mom and Dad passed away within days of each other.

Their story started many years before Mexico, however, extending back to 1949, when Tom Lasater moved his young Beefmaster herd from Falfurrias, Texas, to Matheson, Colorado. In the tiny town east of Colorado Springs, the Lasaters and Mom’s family, the Nixons, quickly became friends, and Mom and her older sister, Dixie, even babysat the youngest Lasater siblings.

Although they were childhood friends, Mom and Dad went their separate ways for school—Mom to the University of Colorado in Boulder and Dad to Princeton University in New Jersey. They would see each other occasionally on vacations, but both were busy finishing school and launching their careers.

In college, Dad dreamed of moving to Mexico to ranch and expand the Beefmaster footprint. After repeated attempts, he finally convinced Mom to marry him. When she said yes in 1964, she gave up her prized Mustang sports car and her corporate career in Denver in order to follow him to Mexico. Dad always said convincing her to marry him was “the toughest sell of my life.”

Annette Lasater passed away on June 21, 2025, and Laurie Lasater passed away on July 2, 2025.

They began their 50-year career with a wedding gift from Tom and Mary Lasater of 35 Beefmaster cows and two bulls, which became the foundation of the breed in Mexico. Mom managed the business behind the scenes, handling bookkeeping, staff and marketing, all while trying to rein in some of Dad’s wildest ideas.

Dad’s passion for Beefmasters extended far beyond our own operation. He traveled around the world giving speeches, answering questions, and helping others get started. He would make time to meet and visit with anyone who asked. He considered his writing of The Lasater Philosophy of Cattle Raising, a book which has helped thousands of operators worldwide, the greatest achievement of his career.

While he taught us everything we know about ranching, at home he modeled being a devoted family man and an upstanding person. He never tired of learning and loved discussing world events. A voracious reader, he collected books on ranching, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Mount Everest, and African safaris. He taught his children and his grandchildren how to drive and play poker, and he volunteered at a local literacy center, teaching English to native Spanish speakers.

Dad was a fabulous storyteller, and because of his years of living in Mexico and his vast business dealings with so many people around the world, he had ­­­amassed quite an arsenal of stories. Sometimes we would ask him rhetorical questions just to get him going. Half the fun of listening to his tales was watching him relive the story, usually crying laughing by the end.

At home Mom was a Renaissance woman, always busy with multiple projects. An avid reader and seamstress, she reupholstered furniture, made dozens of needlepoint stockings, knitted sweaters, made laundry bags for a girls’ home and gowns for preemies, and sewed my prom dresses and wedding dress. She even designed the building plans for their last two homes.

Mom was intrepid and strong, yet also compassionate and loving. In the many messages we received after her ­­passing, “kind” and “lovely” were repeated over and over. An excellent listener, she made people feel heard and appreciated, earning her the nickname of “Mom A.”

Running a business together was not without its frustrations, and Mom and Dad didn’t try to sugarcoat the challenges for us. But they remained devoted to each other, preferring to spend time together rather than following separate pursuits. In her last weeks, Mom said she thought Dad was waiting for her. Ever the gentleman, he did just that, joining her in heaven 11 days after she died.

On both June 21 and July 2, we had beautiful rains around San Angelo, a rarity during the hot summer months. But it was the perfect ending for these two ranchers, showering us and their beloved Beefmaster cattle with love from the heavens.

Note: Thank you to family friend Thomas Cole for sharing his poignant idea of “Two to Heaven,” which inspired this article.

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