John Steven Daily, 85, died peacefully surrounded by his family on Thursday, January 12, at the VA Community Living Center. He is survived by his wife Therese of 65 years; his children Charles, Janet Hillery, Nancy, Julie, Jackie; five grandchildren; three great grandchildren; and many close friends.
He grew up in Chicago, the son of Omer and Mary Daily. As a youth he was drawn to his lifelong passions of hunting and fishing, bicycling more than 100 miles to learn about these from his Uncle. While attending Lane Tech, he ran track and cross country. He fell in love with his wife at a church dance and was married 3 years later at St Ferdinand, going AWOL from Air Force basic training to do so. He was deployed to England during the Korean War where his first two children were born.
John combined his automotive expertise with his gregarious nature to become a successful business owner; he was the first Snap-on Tool dealer to reach $100,000 in yearly sales. Family adventures were the norm with memories of road rallies, 1967 World’s Fair, house boat cannonballs, and snowbound ski trips. After retirement he sought out the wide open spaces of Colorado to pursue golf, swimming, skiing and of course hunting and fishing. His hunting expertise was expansive including bow, black powder, precision handloading, and cowboy shoots as Slim Rocking Horse. He never missed an opportunity to serve the VFW selling poppies and cooking pancake breakfasts. John’s sense of humor was his most endearing and enduring quality teasing and tricking the nurses in his final days.
A funeral mass will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Grand Junction on April 28 at 11:00 am followed by an Honor Guard service at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 1:00 PM. Memorial contributions may be made to the VA Medical Center CLC Fund at 2121 North Avenue, GJ CO 81501 in memory of John Daily.
Friends and family may leave their condolences at www.martinmortuary.com
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