Tributes

John Marvin Smalley passed away peacefully at his home in Snelling, CA on Friday. He was 79 years old. John was raised on Mitchell Road in Turlock and graduated from Turlock High School in 1958. After graduating from high school, he worked as a cement man for a short time, stating “the money was good, but I wanted to work with horses and cattle.” Soon enough, John went to work for Andy Amsbaugh as a pick-up man in the rough stock events for rodeos all over California. He spent years looking after cattle at the Los Cerritos Ranch. While he worked for many ranchers in California, Oregon and Nevada, John also worked at sales yards throughout California. For many years, he worked at building his own cattle herd. He team penned for 15 years, winning dozens of prestigious competitions around the country. His dad was the first to introduce him to Belgian draft horses and Andy left several draft mares and a stud to him to start his own string of draft horses. While he lived in Turlock most of his life, John settled down in Snelling, where he operated his own cattle ranch up until the day he passed away. He married the love of his life, Claudette Lewis Smalley on December 13, 1997 in Meyers, CA. They were married for 22 years. John was preceded in death by his father, Chester Smalley; his mother, Catherine “Kate” Smalley; his sons, John Dee Smalley and Grant Melton; and his brother, Chuck Smalley. He is survived by his loving wife, Claudette Smalley of Snelling, CA; son, Dain (Lauren) Melton of Chico, CA; daughter, Martinique (Douglas) Melton Zerr of Salina, KS; grandchildren: Derrek Smalley of Madras, OR; Clinton Smalley of Hughson, CA and Hadley Zerr of Salina, KS; 2 great-grandsons; and his sister, Shirley (Smalley) Luke of Stockton, CA. A visitation will be held at 2 p.m., followed by the funeral service at 3 p.m., on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at Turlock Funeral Home, 425 N. Soderquist Rd., Turlock. Following the service, a reception will be held at Mitchell Community Church, 1507 S. Mitchell Rd., Turlock. Memorial donations can be made in John’s honor to the American Lung Association at lung.org; the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org; or to the Muscular Dystrophy Association at mda.org.

Tributes

John Marvin Smalley

October 13, 1940 - January 10, 2020