Vail Daily obituary: John B. Schofield, 1949-2016
John B. Schofield, 67, died April 22 at his home in Edwards. He was surrounded by his wife of 46 years and his three children.
John was born and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, on Feb. 11, 1949. He graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1972. After graduation he owned and managed the operation at the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport for several years. John was a captain for Continental Airlines for 25 years, retiring in 2009, with over 20,000 hours of flight time. During that time he was based in Denver, Cleveland, Honolulu and Houston and enjoyed traveling all over the world during his career. He was a Gold Seal certified flight instructor since 1969, teaching and sharing his love of flying with many students. He flew almost every type of aircraft — from a Cessna 150 to the Boeing 767.
In addition to his aviation career he was a land developer and residential and commercial builder in Fort Collins. He renovated and managed several buildings in the downtown area of Fort Collins and was proud to be a part of the renaissance of the downtown area. John served on the Planning and Zoning Commission in Fort Collins and was a graduate of Leadership Fort Collins. He also served on the Fort Collins Local Development Company as a director and president.
After moving to Vail full time in 1991 he continued his love of building and construction, owning and managing Pinyon Builders and doing several renovation projects in the Vail area. John served on the town of Vail Design Review Board and then on the Town of Vail Planning and Environmental Commission for eight years, serving as chair from 1998-2003. John volunteered for many years at Ski Club Vail and during that time you could usually find him at the starting gate sending the racers off or working in other volunteer capacities on the course. He was also an official for the National Off-Road Biking Association and officiated during the 2001 World Mountain Biking Championships that were held in Vail.
John traveled the world but his heart was always in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. He relished skiing with family and friends; spring picnics on Vail Mountain were his favorite. He was an avid mountain and road biker and he was always ready for a camping or backpacking trip with his family, traveling near or far to visit the beautiful areas of our country.
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John is survived by his loving wife, Barbara, of Edwards; his precious children, Jennifer Schofield Law (Peter), of Edwards, Levi Franklin (Beth Schutte), of Cave Creek, Arizona, and Colorado River Ranch, and Douglas Franklin IV (Katie), of Eagle-Vail; his adored and adoring grandchildren Jacqueline and Emily Law, Isabella Schofield and Eleanor Schofield. John’s greatest sadness was not being able to meet his two grandchildren who have not arrived yet. He is also survived by his sister Ann, of Hanover, New Hampshire; and his brother Douglas, of Louisville and Bhutan; and his nieces and nephew.
A celebration of life will be held on May 21 at 2 p.m. at the Sonnenalp Hotel in Vail. Condolences and memories may be shared with his family at P.O. Box 2384, Edwards, CO 81632.