To her fans, Reba McEntire is the “Queen of Country,” a three-time Grammy winner with 35 number-one singles and a legendary career spanning four decades. But back on the family’s 8,000-acre cattle ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma, Reba wasn’t a superstar—she was just one of the four McEntire kids trying to survive the holiday morning energy of her older brother, Pake McEntire. While the world knows Reba for her poised performances and classic holiday hits like “The Christmas Guest,” her childhood memories of December 25th are defined by a much more revealing family tradition. She recently shared a hilarious truth: that despite their family’s strict rules, her brother Pake was a one-man wrecking crew every Christmas Eve and morning.
The “Underwear Run” of Pake McEntire Pake McEntire, who had his own successful country career in the 1980s, was notorious for being the most impatient member of the clan. Reba has often recounted the funniest thing she remembers about their childhood Christmases was Pake’s refusal to wait for the sun to rise. Long before the Oklahoma dawn hit the ranch, Pake would be the first one out of bed, fueled by pure holiday adrenaline. Forget festive pajamas or warm robes; Pake’s signature move was sprinting down the hallway wearing nothing but his underwear. To ensure his siblings—Reba, Susie, and Alice—didn’t sleep in, he would storm the hallway shouting, “If y’all don’t hurry up and get up and get in here, I’m opening all the presents by myself!”
The Family Rule vs. The Rebellious Brother Despite his loud threats and high-speed hallway laps, the McEntire family had a “standing rule” that was non-negotiable: no one could open a single gift until the entire family was gathered together. This made Pake’s morning rampage an exercise in theatrical rebellion rather than actual gift-snatching. Reba recalls the image of her older brother “wreaking havoc” as an unforgettable part of their holiday ritual, a chaotic contrast to the “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake tradition they also observed. These early years on the ranch, gathered around a tree in the middle of a working cattle operation, formed the foundation for the “Singing McEntires” and the tight-knit bond the siblings still share today.
2025: New Traditions and Old Memories As the 2025 holiday season approaches, Reba has shared how she continues to blend these wild Oklahoma memories with her current life in Tennessee. Living with her fiancé, Rex Linn, the couple has established their own “low-key” rituals, including a Christmas morning trip to the movies to beat the crowds before returning home for a day of “meals and snacks.” While the days of racing through hallways in Chockie may be over, Reba remains deeply connected to her roots. Even as she dominates the charts with her sitcom Happy’s Place and her role on The Voice, she credits those high-energy ranch Christmases for teaching her that family is the true “Reason for the Season.”
A Ranch-Style Legacy The image of a young Pake McEntire threatening to open every present in his underwear is a reminder that even the biggest stars have a “home” where they are just siblings waiting for Santy Claus. For Reba, Christmas isn’t about the glamour of a Nashville gala; it’s about the “unforgettable” spirit of an Oklahoma ranch where the only thing louder than the carols was her brother’s holiday ultimatums. As she often tells her fans, those moments of “mischief” are what make the holidays real. It’s a legacy built on laughter, high-stakes excitement, and a brother who, for one morning a year, truly was the most impatient man in country music.