John McCabe passed away at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, Colo., on Sept. 29, 2002. He was 90.

He was born to John and Mary Madden McCabe in Aspen, Colo., on June 5, 1912.

He married Annette Artaz at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in Glenwood Springs on June 5, 1939. They were married 63 years.

Mr. McCabe survived a dynamite cap accident, which took an eye and fingers on one hand, when he was 6 years old. He later lived with a passion as a range rider in the cattle industry at Hunter Creek near Aspen, and Dinkle Lake, North Thompson Creek and Coal Basin in the Carbondale, Colo., area. Early in his career, he worked for Mela Cerise on his ranch in the Basalt, Colo., area, and at the Hammerick Ranch on Four Mile. He also worked for the Crystal River Ranch before his retirement in the early 1970s.

Mr. McCabe spent many winters sorting potatoes for many of the ranchers in the Roaring Fork Valley. He was also a coal miner for 12 years at the North Thompson Coal MIne on North Thompson Creek, a few miles down the road from his cow camp, where he spent many summers riding the range.

He was a fan of Notre Dame football, Boston Celtics basketball, and the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, and was also a fan of many area high school teams. In his younger years, he was a rodeo contestant in saddle bronc riding. He also traveled the state with a square-dancing group.

Mr. McCabe loved God, his family, his horses and cattle, and his country-style life. He was fond of saying, “There is something special about saddling up and trailing a herd of cattle toward the mountains and open range.”

He was preceded in death by brothers Joe, Jim and Frank McCabe, and sister Alice Flynn.

Mr. McCabe is survived by wife Nettie McCabe, of Glenwood Springs; sister Mary Flynn, of Grand Junction, Colo.; sons and daughters-in-law LeRoy “Sonny” and Sandy McCabe, of Palisade, Colo., and Ed and Patty McCabe, of Carbondale; daughters and son-in-law Carolyn McCabe, of Glenwood Springs, and Shirley and Greg Thompson, of Monte Vista, Colo.; grandchildren Dane McCabe, Molly Thulson, Mischa McCabe and Michael McCabe; and great-grandchildren Jordan McCabe, Christopher Thulson and Katherine Thulson.

Rosary is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, with viewing from 4-7 p.m. at Farnum Holt Funeral Home in Glenwood Springs. Mass will be held at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in Glenwood Springs at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 3. Burial will follow at Rosebud Cemetery in Glenwood Springs. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the St. Stephen’s Building Fund in memory of John B. McCabe. The address is 1010 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs, CO 81601.