Obituary of Daniel McCormick, Sr

Daniel Mont McCormick, Sr. July 23, 1939 to September 4, 2016. Our beloved, husband, father, grandfather, best friend passed away September 4, 2016 due to an accident. He was doing what he enjoyed, riding his Harley. Dan was born July 23, 1939 on the family farm south of Stratton as the youngest member of seven. He attended a little country school before his parents moved to town. Then he attended St. Charles Academy and graduated from Stratton High School. At the age of 12 he started going on harvest with his brother James, sleeping under trucks and talked about washing dishes in exchange for a meal as Jim had gone ahead and forgot to leave eating money. He told the story of how he rode on the back of a train car to get home from up north after harvest. He and Jim “James” teamed up permanently when Jim bought land south of town in the 1950’s. While Dan was in high school they became partners. They had over 8,000 head of sheep. About 1960-1961 started building the feedlot and expanded their land in Cheyenne County and Kit Carson. They bought a large ranch in Nevada in 1980 and ran cattle. Dan spent time between there and here. His mom always said that Dan was a man that could fix anything with his hands. He was known, loved and remembered by family, friends and employees, to be a great teacher, great leader and to have a heart of gold. He enjoyed riding his Harley, water skiing, boating and was great at trap shooting with several medals to show for it, not to mention a good party. Dan married his best friend Dorothy Phelps on October 13, 1961 in Denver. To this union had 2 special sons, Daniel Monte Jr. and James Robert. Up until the time of death he was still managing the ranch and farming, along with maintaining and operating all the equipment. Daniel was preceded in death by his parents, James Sr. and Irene McCormick; sisters, Julia (Alvin) Lowe, Rosemary (Paul) Gergen, and Betty Jane (Edward) Selenke; and brothers, James McCormick, Jr. and Thomas (Sylvia) McCormick. Daniel is survived by his wife Dorothy of the home in Stratton; sons, James (Cherry) McCormick of Stratton, and Monte (Jeanette) McCormick of Bennett, CO; his brother, Joseph (Helen) McCormick of Flagler, CO; his sister-in-laws, Louise McCormick of Denver and Lolita McCormick of Burlington; grandchildren, Brittany (Andrew) Harrison, Danielle and Mandy McCormick and Jacob and Justin “Tom” McCormick; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and extended family members.