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Apr 03, 2024

Decades of dedication

For nearly 60 years, “Doc John” Pallaoro traveled Colorado’s dusty roads and two-lane blacktops tending horses, cattle and even bison. “I was treating a man’s horse once and he looked at me and said,

For nearly 60 years, “Doc John” Pallaoro traveled Colorado’s dusty roads and two-lane blacktops tending horses, cattle and even bison.

“I was treating a man’s horse once and he looked at me and said, ‘Doc, someday you’re gonna die working on a horse,’ ” Pallaoro recalled recently.

He said he thought a moment and replied, “I hope so.”

On Thursday, Pallaoro — a veterinary icon and friend to thousands of clients — died of heart failure. He was 83.

Pallaoro “retired” two years ago but still was consulting for a few longtime horse clients and dropped in often at Golden Animal Hospital, a facility he began and his two sons, Gary and Jeff, continue to operate.

He also is survived by his daughter, Cindy; brother, John, of Molina; and four grandchildren. Private family services are planned.

Pallaoro graduated from veterinary school in 1950 at Colorado A&M College, now Colorado State University.

“I knew him forever — more than 30 years,” said Glen Keller Jr., director of the Westernaires. “He was just a great friend. Nobody had more practical judgment about horses than an old vet like Doc.”

Keller said Pallaoro taught at Westernaires in the 1950s and recently came out to add a few items to the nonprofit group’s museum.

Pallaoro was so beloved by his clients that he often was asked to stay for supper, or was handed homemade treats.

“He was one of the most loving, kind people,” said Dorothy Cramer of Lakewood, who for decades would use only him on her horses.

Pallaoro also vaccinated Denver’s bison herd for more than 30 years, most recently just two springs ago. The wily beasts were restrained, but Pallaoro said the look in their eyes meant he had to work fast.

Pallaoro was known to outwork much-younger vet technicians. In 2002, when West Nile virus first arrived in Colorado, Pallaoro spent day after day vaccinating horses from before dawn to midnight.

A few years ago, Pallaoro nearly fulfilled his own prophecy when a horse he was euthanizing collapsed on him, breaking his leg and some ribs.

While hospitalized, Pallaoro underwent surgery for a digestive problem. Having tended many a horse’s tied-up guts, Pallaoro explained simply, “I was colicking.”

Condolences may be left at the website evergreenmemorialpark.com. Donations may be sent to: Alzheimer’s Association — Colorado Chapter, 455 Sherman St., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80203.

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