John Schweizer Jr. Obituary

Description: John Schweizer Jr. Obituary... Our Heartfelt Condolences To His Loved Ones...

Published: 02/13/2023

John Schweizer Jr.

Saturday, August 11th, 1934 - Monday, February 6th, 2023

Obituary

John Henry Schweizer, Jr. was born on August 11, 1934, near Ft. Bent, CO, the youngest child of John H. Schweizer, Sr. and Mary (Grasmick) Schweizer. He departed this life on February 6, 2023, after a lengthy illness.

John graduated from Manzanola High School, Manzanola, CO, in 1952, where he excelled on the basketball Court. In 1951 and 1952, he was part of a Manzanola Bobcat team that traveled to Denver to play in the Colorado State Basketball Championship games.

After his high school graduation, John married Peggy (Morgan) Love and he began fulfilling his lifelong dream of farming and raising livestock. To this marriage, three children were born: Kathy was born in 1954, Kenneth in 1956, and Susan in 1962.

During the first year, John farmed for his father-in-law, Elwin Morgan, near Manzanola. When John leased ground for the next few years, Elwin and John’s dad (John Sr.) helped him by providing machinery and equipment, while John provided labor. After a few years, he began leasing ground and in 1963, he was able to purchase the farm he had grown up on, one mile south of the old Vroman School on U. S. Highway 50, between Rocky Ford and Manzanola, CO. Over the years, John added additional property and began improving the ditches, roads, corrals and adding to the cattle herd and his bunch of pigs.
In 1977, Ken returned from college and became part of the farming and livestock operation. More farm ground was leased, and some was purchased, increasing the size and scope of the farm to include some 700 acres of irrigated farm ground and 200 mother cows.

John was devoted to numerous agricultural organizations, causes, and groups. In 1955, John joined Colorado Farm Bureau, which began a lifelong association with the organization. John was named the Otero County Young Farmer twice and he went through the American Farm Bureau Federation Leadership Program. He served on the Beef Cattle Advisory Committee and, in 2000, was awarded a certificate for supporting education improvement, promoting agriculture, and providing economic opportunities. In 1980, John began a 20-year stint on the Colorado Farm Bureau State Board of Directors, serving as Secretary of the Executive Committee. He served on the American Farm Bureau Feed Grains and Livestock Committee and the Confined Animal Feeding Operations Committee, which benefited farmers and cattlemen nationwide. Over the years, he served as the Otero County Farm Bureau Vice President and the President. Capping many years of service, John was awarded the prestigious Colorado Farm Bureau Service to Agriculture Award in 2003. Until recent years when his health began to decline, he enjoyed participating in several Farm Bureau annual events.

Although Farm Bureau occupied a good deal of John’s time, his ag involvement didn't stop there. When his son, Ken, was active in FFA, John served on the Colorado FFA Advisory Board. He received the FFA Honorary Chapter Farmer, a Certificate of Merit for the Farm Family of the Year, and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Vocational Ag Program at Rocky Ford High School. When Ken was a student at Northeastern Junior College, Sterling, CO, John was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the NJC Cooperative Education program.

John was the Vice-Chair of Farm Credit Services of Southeastern Colorado for 18 years, receiving a Certificate of Appreciation for serving as a director from 1982 – 2000.

In 1998, John began the next chapter of his life when he married Thelma Schisler.

In 2000, John was appointed to the USDA Farm Service Agency Colorado Committee under the Administration of President George W. Bush; a position he held until 2008.

Beginning in 2008, a new and innovative venture occupied much of John’s time. The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District formed the Super Ditch Co. Super Ditch was not a “ditch” at all, but a group of like-minded farmers throughout the Arkansas Valley who witnessed the horrible effects of the sale of nearly all the irrigation water in neighboring Crowley County to the City of Aurora. The organization elected John as its President. Super Ditch initiated a consolidated effort—by all shareholders of irrigation water rights under seven canals between the Pueblo Reservoir and John Martin Reservoir on the Arkansas River—to adopt an “irrigation water leasing-land fallowing program.” The committee was able to bring the seven canals together and John was selected to the three-member negotiating team, which represented all shareholders’ interests.

An 2011, John became a member of an elite group, as he was one of five agricultural leaders inducted into the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame. Considered a distinct honor in Colorado, there are only 116 inductees into this group.

In 2019, John received a special honorarium from the Catlin Canal Ditch Co. The Catlin Canal Diversion Dam, which is where water is released from the Arkansas River to the Catlin Canal, was renamed the “John Schweizer, Jr. Catlin Canal Ditch Co. Diversion Dam.” He began as a Catlin board member on June 6, 1985, and served as President from April 18, 2005, through December 2, 2019.
As the years marched on, John followed the activities, games, matches, and meets of his kids, kid-in-laws, and grandkids. He drove many miles to watch them play, sing, recite, ride, show, act, wrestle, perform.

John is survived by his wife, Thelma, of Rocky Ford. John leaves behind his children and their families, including daughter Kathy Schweizer Boyd (Bruce), Limon, CO; grandson Matt Boyd (Carrie Edwards) and great-granddaughters Elizabeth, Samantha, and Olivia Boyd, Atlanta, GA; granddaughter Morgan Boyd Willett, Ocala, FL and great-grandson, Jason Haynes, Ft. Drum, NY.
Survivors also include son Ken Schweizer (Arlene Brown), Rocky Ford, CO; and their daughter Michelle Schweizer Gardner (Matthew), great-grandchildren Jennifer and Jake, all of Swink, CO. Grandson Chris Schweizer (special friend Randa Hudson), great-grandchildren Trenton and Adalynd Schweizer and Sarah Maulin also survive.
John’s daughter, Susan Schweizer Jordan (Dave), Crowley, CO, survives him, along with her son Jason Jordan (Amanda Lloyd) and great-grandchildren Jayce and Clara Jordan, Dallas, TX; and son Ryan Jordan (Kristin Brown), NE, and grandchildren Zachary, Emmaline, and Henry, Omaha, NE. Thelma’s sons, Wayne (Mary) Mitchell, Booneville, IA, and Joseph (Ann) Mitchell and sons Reed, Kyle, and Alex, Orlando, FL also survive.

John’s parents, John and Mary Schweizer, preceded him in death, as well as his four siblings—Martha, Kathryn, Wilbert, and Dorothy—and their spouses. His grandson-in-law, Rick Willett, Ocala, FL, preceded him in death, in January 2020.

Services are Tuesday, February 21st, 2023 10:00am at the First Christian Church at 400 S. 9th St. ROCKY FORD, CO 81067

The family asks that memorial contributions be donated to the First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, Rocky Ford, CO or to the Rocky Ford High School FFA Program, CO 81067. Address to use for all donations is: P O Box 293, Rocky Ford, CO 81067.

Bellwood Ford Ustick Funeral Home

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