John Larabee

John Larabee Obituary

John Eddie Larabee was born June 12, 1942, in Ainsworth, NE to Rhea (Estes) Brill and Harley Larabee.

John went to Green Valley country school and Martin grade school. He went to high school at the Curtis, Ne Ag school. He Graduated from Bennett County High School in 1961.

John served in the MAC-V 864th Engineering Battalion from 1961-1963 and worked as a corpsman during the Vietnam War.

John worked on the ranch with his mother and stepfather Chris Brill throughout his younger years. He worked as a road grader for Shannon County after graduating from high school. Grandma Rhea was a fierce and dedicated ranch woman and taught him all she knew. They worked together throughout their lives on the ranch at Porcupine. John was very proud of the B & L Cattle Company LLC that they founded together.

John met and married Dorothy Kingsbury August 14,1970 and together they had two daughters Pamela (Ruben) Miller of Nokomis, Fl and Janelle (Troy) Byrne of Martin, SD. He was constantly dragging mom to rodeo competitions at the Green Valley roping club 2 nights a week for years. He was also a fierce competitor for ping pong, basketball, hockey, horseshoes and any other event they could think of with all his cousins and friends. He was a lifelong member on the Green Valley Fire Department. He was a SD Brand Inspector for numerous years. He and Dorothy moved to the new ranch north of Kyle in the fall of 1982. He was always proud that his "All Girl Cowboy Crew" (Pam, Pam, Nellie and Tim could out ride, rope and manage the herds than any other group. He never had to holler at his girl crew! He taught the girls to fence, farm, ranch and work very hard. He was always interested in the girls schooling and working on math and history with them. He traveled countless miles to watch the girls in basketball, volleyball, and track with Liz and Avery May. John loved his greyhounds and many of the stories told by the cousins on the crazy hunting trips keep us in stitches as they chased coyotes across terraced fields and pastures. Mom was just as adamant cause those greyhounds had a fondness for her flower gardens and couldn't be stopped in their digging pursuits! The girls used to ride them around as horses! John could always be counted on to be at every roundup, branding, or need of his family, friends, or neighbors. He also could always be counted on to ride the grub line through the week to drink coffee and make sure Ramona May and Liz May's baking efforts were appreciated. No one can count the number of Ramona's cinnamon rolls or long johns he consumed. And Liz made sure to perfect the Sour Cream Raisin Pie for him.

John and Dorothy retired after Rhea passed away in 2002. They later moved to Martin SD where John served as a board member for the Martin Library for several years. Once his grand children were born, he was never far from them. He almost left Dorothy in SD when Shelby was being born because he wasn't missing his first. He drove Janelle to almost all of her prenatal visits and he became the primary babysitter for Sam as no one was going to know his grandchild better than he! He stayed 3 nights a week with the Byrnes while Dorothy relaxed and recovered from her years of teaching. He could be counted on to teach them to sled, swing, swim, play baseball, and fish. There wasn't a day that went by that he wasn't calling asking where his grandchildren were and why we hadn't come by. John loved to be surrounded by the kids and their friends, which meant he had more gossip than anyone else in town as the kids grew up! He cooked lunch for Sam's crew daily during the school year to make sure those boys didn't starve. He was known to say how proud he was of all his grandchildren and that they were doing great things in their lives. He loved to tease the boys by saying Emma was his favorite.

John is survived by his wife Dorothy, twin brother James (JoAnn) Larabee, sister Marty (Brill) Hollenbeck, and Daughters Pamela (Ruben) Miller and Janelle (Troy) Byrne. His grandchildren: Shelby, John Owen, and Christiopher Miller and Samuel, Emma, and Adam Byrne. Nephews and Nieces: Scott and Brad Brill; Todd, Traci, Wess and Wendy Larabee and countless other relatives and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents Rhea Brill, Harley Larabee, sister Barbara (Clayton) Brill