John Edward Mccaffrey

John Edward McCaffrey, the son of Edward Eugene McCaffrey and Anne Marie Schaurer McCaffrey, was born on November 7, 1922 in Williamsburg, Virginia. He graduated from Hampton High School in 1940. He entered the military in 1942, graduated from Officer Candidacy School in 1943, and served in the 101 st Airborne in the European theatre during WWII where he was a combat paratrooper platoon leader. In 1946, he returned to the United States and married Peggy Moynihan McCaffrey, in Montrose, Colorado. He graduated from Saint Mary’s College, California in 1950, and received his teaching certificate from University of Colorado in 1951. He assumed a position at Montrose High School, teaching English and History. At the same time, he entered and served in the Colorado National Guard. He was the head basketball and boxing coach and assistant football coach. Throughout the 1950’s he worked to complete his masters and education specialist degrees from Western State College, receiving his Ed.S. in 1960. He became principal in 1960, and then in 1972 he moved to the assistance

Superintendent position. He remained in that capacity, until he became Superintendent from 1983 to 1984. He retired from Colorado National Guard in 1973 as a Lt. Colonel.

After 34 years in the Montrose School system, he retired and accepted a position with the Department of Defense (DoD) educational system as Superintendent of Schools at Kwajalein Military Base in the Marshall Islands. He retired from the DoD school system in 1989 and returned to Montrose, where he lived until his death.

With Peggy, he had 5 children: Kathleen Tabor, Patricia Wagner, Margaret McCaffrey, Edward McCaffrey, and Anne Gibbins. Kathleen and Anne currently live in Montrose, Colorado. Patricia lives in Denver, Margaret lives in Tucson, Arizona, and Edward lives in San Diego, California. He has 9 grandchildren, and 20 great grand children. He is preceded in death by his wife Peggy his parents and his sister Jean Lewis and brother Richard McCaffrey.

Funeral services will be held at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Montrose on Thursday, May 26 at 10:00 a.m. Military honors will be followed by a reception at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Multiple Sclerosis Society

(http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Donate) or the American Cancer Society (https://donate.cancer.org/index).