John was raised on the family’s ranch 17 miles from Nara Visa, New Mexico. He was always a very hard worker, whether it was building fence, branding, working cattle, or studying to further himself so he could reach his dream of owning his own ranch one day.

He received his bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University while being on the rodeo team riding bareback horses. He received his master’s degree from Texas A&M and then his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1971 from Colorado State University. While going to college he worked at a number of jobs, including being a lab assistant, to pay his way all on his own.

John always had a love of animals, especially horses. His career began at Golden Animal Hospital. Then he moved to Arapaho Animal Clinic owned by Dr. Farrow, a close friend. Eventually he was offered a position at the State of Colorado Racing Commission as a track vet and worked his way up to being chief veterinarian for the state of Colorado. When he retired, he bought the family ranch he grew up on.

After moving back to New Mexico, he worked with his brother helping with the embryo transfer program and whatever else needed to be done. John was a very unassuming person who studied the Bible in detail and was a true believer. He strongly believed in self-discipline and that planning plus hard work would eventually equal success. He believed that treating everyone with honesty and respect was essential and, most importantly, success was not success if you have to deceive, lie, steal, or cheat.

He greatly enjoyed seeing and visiting with his many friends from his days of “rodeoing” and working at the vet clinics in the Denver area and the race track. He seldom missed watching the rodeos and bull riding on TV. He was involved with many local activities such as the cemetery association, community center and volunteer fire department.