Richard
”
Dick
”
John McAbee Sr., 78, a longtime resident of San Benito County
passed away suddenly Tuesday, March 30, 2004.
Dick was born in San Francisco on Jan. 3, 1926.
Richard “Dick” John McAbee Sr., 78, a longtime resident of San Benito County passed away suddenly Tuesday, March 30, 2004.
Dick was born in San Francisco on Jan. 3, 1926. He was raised on his parents’ ranch in San Juan Bautista where he resided until his marriage to Helen Marie Barbora in 1947. He attended San Juan Grammar School and then Hollister High School where he played football and was active in the Future Farmers of America.
From an early age, Dick loved to work. He often went to high school with a truck loaded with hay, would go to football practice and deliver the hay afterward. He told his children that he was driving and delivering hay at the age of 13. Along with breaking horses, milking cows, raising hogs, hunting, growing and harvesting hay, Dick was once a small boy with a dream. As he played with toy trucks in the gravel behind the ranch house, his dream of one day owning a trucking company was formulated. He began his company using the ranch as home base until purchasing acreage on McCloskey Road in the mid-1950s.
He never tired of work and never complained of having to go to work. He loved all aspects of the trucking business, including driving the big rigs. His CB handle was Hayhook. He also loved the hay business and could often be seen cruising down the highway in his hay squeeze to either load or unload the bales.
Dick also enjoyed snow skiing and continued to ski until the past couple of years. He and Helen built a home in Northstar where he enjoyed his love of the mountains and could ski in the winter. He also enjoyed house boating at Lake Shasta and was a die-hard Sharks fan. He was a ticket holder for many years. He and his son, Richard, rarely missed a game. He also loved watching sports on television, especially football and hockey. Dick also loved a good joke, and he could tell endless truck-related stories.
Dick also loved children. He was the proud father of four daughters for many years until the birth of his son at age 44. He was thrilled to have a son and to have him by his side in business. He was a proud and happy man. He also enjoyed his 12 grandchildren, attending events they were involved in and watching them play from a comfortable chair.
He was a longtime member of the Hollister Elks Club, former member of the Hollister Dance Club, the San Benito County Farm Bureau, San Benito County Chamber of Commerce and a former director of the San Benito County Water District.
Dick leaves his wife Helen, of 56 years; daughters Lynda (Butch) Ariano, Janis (Larry) Barnes and Patty (Jerry) Long, all of Salinas, Cathy (Steve) Holdaway, of Aptos; and son Richard (Jackie) McAbee of Hollister. He is also survived by his grandchildren Brandon, Nicholas, Ryan and Zachary, Janae Holdaway Roplogle, Lauren Justin Holdaway, Jason, Jessica and Jaden Long and Ireland and Donnovan McAbee. He leaves a sister Roberta Pyle, of Cupertino, and brothers Herbert McAbee, of Hollister, Raymond McAbee, of Shasta County, and Rodney McAbee, of Clovis, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents Leland and Elda McAbee and was the grandson of John B. McAbee, the former owner of McAbee Beach in Monterey.
A celebration of Dick’s life will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Benedict Catholic Church, 1200 Fairview Road, Hollister, followed by burial and graveside services at San Juan District Cemetery. Friends may visit Friday from noon to 7 p.m. at the chapel of Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson-Funeral Home, 870 San Benito St. Contributions are preferred to the Dick McAbee Memorial Scholarship Fund c/o Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home.
