Mike Rapasardi
Marriages
Alice
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7B Death Notice - December 28, 2016
Mike Rapasardi, 98, Grand Junction, died Dec. 23, 2016, at
Community Hospital.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Canyon View Vineyard
Church. Interment to follow at New Elmwood Cemetery.
Survivors include his wife, Alice of Fruita; two daughters, Margie
Ann Foster of Hickory, North Carolina, and Darlene Scott of
Grand Junction; one brother, James of Grand Junction; one sister,
Angelina Newell of Orlando, Florida; 10 grandchildren; 21 greatgrandchildren;
10 great-great-grandchildren; and one great-greatgreat-
grandchild.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 5A Obituary - December 29, 2016
Mike Rapasardi
May 30, 1918 - December 23, 2016
Mike Rapasardi went to see
his King, Jesus, on December
23, 2016, at Community
Hospital in Grand Junction,
Colorado. He was 98. Born to
Italian immigrants on May 30,
1918, in New Castle,
Colorado, Mr. Rapasardi spent
most of his life sheep
ranching.
At the age of ten, Mike was
placed alone in the sheep camp with just a dog, a horse, and
basic groceries. His parents expected him to cook for himself,
take care of the sheep, and go to school. Without supervision,
the young Mike preferred rabbit hunting over school attendance.
As a result, he had to take the fifth grade over again.
Thus began his legacy of sheep ranching. It led him to the
town of Aspen, where the teenage Mike chased lambs out of the
yards of the residents. A teacher dismissed her students to help
him round up the woolies where they were herded into the
mountains above town. As he grew, so did his knowledge of
sheep ranching. He developed a reputation as one of the best in
his field. Together with his wife, he established two of the
largest sheep ranches in the area.
In 1978 he retired and moved to Mesa County. Mike found
true love again, as he married Alice in June 1993. They traveled
and enjoyed life together, and her children became a loving
family to him. Throughout his retirement he continued to enjoy
caring for sheep as he kept a small flock in his pasture even to
the day of his death.
Mike was preceded in death by his mother, Concetta
Rapasardi; his father, Angelo Rapasardi; his first wife, Margie
Rapasardi; brother, Aspirino Rapasardi; sisters, Anna Favre,
Mary Cummings, and Jennie Krumle, and daughter, Loretta
Alexander.
Mike is survived by his wife, Alice Rapasardi of Fruita, CO;
son, Bob Wentzel (Pam) of Fruita, CO; daughter, Margie Ann
(Keith) Foster of Hickory, NC; daughter, Darlene (Daniel) Scott
of Grand Junction, CO; sister, Angelina Newell of Orlando, FL;
brother, James Rapasardi of Grand Junction, CO; ten
grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; ten great-greatgrandchildren,
and one great-great-great-granddaughter.
Funeral services will be held at Canyon View Vineyard Church
at 10:00 a.m. on December 29, 2016. Burial will follow at New
Elmwood Cemetery.
