Richard "John" Dellenbach

Richard “John” Dellenbach, age 42, of Fort Collins, CO, passed into the loving arms of Jesus surrounded by his wife and family on August 11, 2024 after complications from an infection and renal cell carcinoma. John was born in Fort Collins on April 23, 1982. He graduated from Fort Collins High School in 2000. He attended Montana State for 2 years, completed a summer at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and received a Bachelors Degree in General Business and minored in Spanish at The University of Northern Colorado in 2005. He graduated from the NADA Dealer Academy in 2011. It is impossible to put into words the life of someone like John. To know him was to love him. He was a man of many talents, many friends, and much faith. John’s greatest talent was with music. He began playing guitar at age 12. He played mostly by ear after his lessons in his younger years. He played the guitar, drums, harmonica, ukulele, and keyboard all by ear. He played Bass in a band named Steel Radio through his college years. They played all over Fort Collins, including the Aggie Theatre. He enjoyed recording and writing music with his cousin, Brady. He loved watching his daughters develop in their musical talents; listening to Myla play the clarinet, playing the ukulele with Sylvie, and Laira on the vocals. He listened to all genres and had a wide depth of knowledge about music. He loved listening to, talking about, and playing all kinds. Hunting was a great passion of his. John said he hunted “anything with wings.” He treasured all of his sunrises with family and friends—waiting for “shooting time.” John married into the right family! He enjoyed hunting with all of his in-laws, especially the annual pheasant hunt in November. John’s best hunting buddy was his pride and joy, a black lab named Duke. They had hundreds of hunts together. Duke would wake him up at 4am and cry the whole way to the hunt. They had a strong bond and Duke was a big part of John’s life. He also loved to fish, snowboard, and golf. He spent many of his college days at Big Sky Resort (MT) and Copper Mountain (CO). He loved golfing at the Country Club with his wife, the men of St. Joseph, and other friends. John had many other talents and interests. He had a knack for finding arrowheads along the South Platte River. He inherited a green thumb from his maternal grandmother, Doris and mother, Janene, and enjoyed growing plants and trees. When he married Brooklyn, he had a banana tree-that grew bananas and a papaya tree-that grew papayas in the living room. He served on the board for the Museum of Art Fort Collins, including a few years as President. He designed a mask for several years for their annual fundraiser, MASKS. He enjoyed adventures and traveling, especially to places where he could use his second language of Spanish. He usually earned a nickname when traveling for being the life of the party, his best known were Dr. John, Big Hawaiian John, and Juan Loco. He had a deep respect for nature and loved the ocean. His favorite place to go was Maui, it held a special place in his heart with many memories. When traveling he always loved going to the local Catholic Mass and taking his girls to the gift shop. John started working at Dellenbach Motors at age 13, and worked his way up over the years. He started mowing and pulling weeds, he then moved onto the wash bay. During college summer breaks, he worked as a Service Advisor. After college he made his way through the ranks starting in Sales, then a Finance Manager, Cadillac Sales Manager, Subaru Sales Manager, finally, he became the General Manager for Subaru in 2022. John created an atmosphere of strong morals, work ethic, philanthropy and created many long-term relationships. John was a pilar at the Dealership and will be greatly missed by employees and customers. John was married to his beautiful bride, Brooklyn, for 17 years. God was working through John and Brooklyn’s life. They actually met when John was 6 at St. Joseph Catholic School. They started dating at age 21. Their first date was attending a B.B. King concert, where they got on the tour bus and John got his guitar signed by B.B. King. They were married at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fort Collins in 2007. They have been blessed with three beautiful daughters: Myla (12), Sylvie (10), and Laira (8). John loved his girls; he thrived and was proud of being a “girl dad.” He was the fun dad who liked helping them with their school projects, playing hair salon, playing Mass, sports, painting, and even built them a lego room. He wrote songs with them, musically jammed with them, and shot BB guns with them. He took them to the father-daughter dances and attended all of their games. He loved them for who they were and all of their uniqueness. Each of the girls hold many gifts from John. He never missed a night praying “Angel of God” with his girls and wife. He was here for a short time of their lives, but left them with enough love and memories for a lifetime. John was always a practicing Catholic, but God used his cancer diagnosis and suffering as a means to draw him deeper into his faith. John experienced an incredible peace within him. God gave John a special grace to develop a profound, living faith. John surrendered completely to God, knowing how short life is on earth. He realized that he really wanted to be with God forever in Heaven, so he took everything to a deeper level in his heart. He began to pray daily the “Surrender Novena”, the St. Peregrine Chaplet, and many other prayers and devotions. He prayed at least one Rosary every day and developed a special love for Our Lady of Guadalupe. He began to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy often, attended Confession (“tribunal of mercy”) frequently and many daily Masses. He joined a men’s Bible study that met every Monday morning. He gave to various charities to have Masses offered for others. He maintained a demeanor of serenity and peace throughout his sufferings and treatments. John handled his diagnosis with amazing grace. He was always so grateful to his doctors, nurses, and anyone taking care of him. Even through his final hours, he always said “thank you,” and greeted everyone with a smile. He was kind to the core and that really shined when he was faced with incredible trials. John is survived and adored by his wife, Brooklyn, and daughters, Myla, Sylvie, and Laira, parents, Mike and Janene Dellenbach, sister Mary (Dan) Jackson, sister Haley (Troy) Sauvageau, in-laws Kevin and Judy LaFleur, brother in law Kevin (Tony) LaFleur, brother in law Dan (Joni) LaFleur. He had 8 nieces and nephews who he treasured and found so fun; Ava Jackson, Kyler Sauvageau, Zach Jackson, Adelyn Sauvageau, Grant LaFleur, Jack LaFleur, Hutch Sauvageau, and Emmerson LaFleur. He is also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends that were like family. John’s life will be celebrated with a Rosary/Vigil Service beginning at 6:00pm, Friday, August 16, 2024 at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Parish, Fort Collins. Mass of Christian Burial will be held the next day at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, August 17, 2024 at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Parish, followed by Interment at Grandview Cemetery. Reception to follow at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Joseph Catholic School, Pathways Hospice, and Ducks, Unlimited.