John "Jack" Phillip Ghilarducci

John “Jack” Phillip Ghilarducci, age 63, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020, at Kindred Hospital Aurora. Jack was born on August 10th, 1957, in Denver to Frank and Elizabeth “Betty” Ghilarducci.

Jack married Nancy Winegard when he was 31. They had three children, started a farm, raised horses together, and were best friends for the rest of their lives.

Jack began working at the age of nine, and worked his whole life to provide for his family, and to help his friends. He was a farmer, rancher, mechanic, construction worker, truck driver, and had many other skills. He was a “Jack” of all trades, and a master of many. For a majority of his life, he stacked and hauled hay with his Peterbilt. He made many friends because of his trucking career, who remained in his life until the end. Jack spent time on heavy equipment building anything from hills in parks, to ramps off of the interstate. He loved his farm, and during the summer would often be found in a tractor from before dawn until past dusk. Whenever one of his many Dodge trucks, or his old ford had an issue, he would stay in the shop and work on them until they were fixed. He also worked on vehicles for his children and friends.

Jack made friends wherever he went, because of his wide variety of passions and hobbies. He loved to spend time with his family and friends in Walden to hunt for elk, as well as loaded and hauled hay out of the area. In Pritchett, he spent time wrangling cattle, worked on equipment and hunted for elk, antelope, and prairie dogs, the latter being his favorite. Jack spent a lot of time working on heavy equipment, such as his Cat dozers that he referred to as “kitties”. He also had a passion for his horses, for whom he had multiple names. Everyone in his life knew his horses by different names. His humor shined through every situation, and he brought smiles to everyone’s faces.

Jack always helped anyone in need. He taught everyone any life skills he knew, but always had a soft spot for those passionate about guns, horses, trucks, and equipment. He never hesitated to give others his knowledge. Though he was willing to teach everyone, he spent a lot of time teaching one young man in particular, who will carry on his legacy with heavy equipment and trucks. He was always available if you called, and would talk to most of his friends and family everyday. Anyone close to Jack knew that his children came first, his horses came second, his equipment came third, his farm came next, and everything else was up for discussion.

He is survived by his father, Frank Ghilarducci, his siblings, Frank W. Ghilarducci and Sharon Ghilarducci, and his children, Anna Ghilarducci, Sam Ghilarducci, and Rachel Ghilarducci. Also surviving him is his granddaughter Meno, who gave him the nickname “Papa Jack”, which he adored.

There is no one on earth like Jack, and he will be missed by many.

There will be a celebration of Jack’s life on January 9th, 2021 at 12:00pm at the Highland Lake Church in Mead, Colorado.

Highlandlake Church has been a place Jack spent a lot of time. If you would like to donate to Historic Highlandlake Church in honor of Jack, it would be much appreciated by the family. https://longmont.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=2518