Jack Horan, a vice president of Horan & McConaty funeral homes, died at his Greenwood Village home Feb. 5. He was 80. Cause of death was COPD.
Horan had a long career as an executive with Qwest, back to the days when it was Mountain States Telephone and later Mountain Bell.
After retirement, he was a funeral director and did pre-planning at Horan & McConaty, which has six locations in the metro area.
Horan “always wanted to be a fireman,” said longtime friend Gene O’Malley, “but he was 6-foot-5 and weighed 285.”
Horan often provided funerals for firemen and policemen. His father had been a fireman.
Jack Horan’s body was taken to the burial site by the Denver Fire Department’s “museum rig,” his son John said.
Jack Horan was also devoted to anything Irish, was one of the founders of Denver’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and for many years was president of the parade.
“He was probably one of the nicest guys I ever met,” said O’Malley, of Lakewood.
Horan lived through the Depression, “and it’s remarkable how that affected his entire life,” said John Horan, head of Horan & McConaty.
He never had a mortgage or a balance on his credit card. He watered down ketchup, mustard and Heinz 57 containers when they were low.
His father didn’t have a fraternity pin when he began dating his future wife. So he gave her his Miller’s Supermarket name badge, John Horan said.
Fiercely loyal to his family, he “didn’t silently suffer” when a foul was called on one of his children during a sporting event. He made sure the referee knew his feelings.
John T. “Jack” Horan was born in Denver on July 16, 1929, and graduated from East High School.
He had delivered newspapers, mowed lawns, sold encyclopedias, delivered milk and raised rabbits.
Horan was just a few credits short of having a business degree from the University of Denver.
He married Valerie Van Derbur on Aug. 26, 1955.
In addition to her and his son John, he is survived by two daughters, Kathy Scaggs of St. Augustine, Fla., and Debbie Griffin of Denver; another son, Mike Horan of Atlanta; and 11 grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
