Larry Zabel lost his battle with cancer and left us to go home to his God & Savior. 












 

The following is a message from Larry that he wrote for his memorial service:

"Down deep in my soul, where suppressed desires live & prosper, there’s this cowboy thing.  I guess I always wanted to be a cowboy.  Back in the 30’s before my dad owned a tractor, he had two teams of gentle draft horses (Glory & Chubby/King & Prince).  Some of my earliest recollections are of sitting on their backs engulfed in that sweet smell of horse & harness.  These teams responded to voice commands so I just sat there & held on while Dad pulled stumps or guided the plow.

Then came Red Rider & Little Beaver my comic book heros who put the cowboy spin on my love of horses.  The radio held me captive as the Lone Ranger Series galloped across my fertile imagination.  Then it was Hopalong Cassidy on our way up to John Wayne & Robert Duval.

Growing up in Orange County, CA, did not put me in touch with real cowboys but the Dickerson brothers down the street had an oversized Shetland named Beauty that we could get to buck with a 

rope under his flanks.

Time flew by and then I had kids of my own.  .  .  Christi & Becca  

started life with each a pony - Copie & Clarence, the burro and I finally 

got some horses of my own, too.  When sons Steve & Jon came along we 

had a few more horses.  Steve got a fine Appaloosa from a beloved 

neighbor, Butch Young, & Becca “won” a wild mustang colt by writing a 

 letter to the famous “Wild Horse Annie” stating why she, above all those 

thousands of other applicants, should have one & that horse became a 

true family member & lived with us for 29 years.  Jon was active in High 

School Rodeo as a Bull Rider & even got to ride in the finals at The Cow 

Palace in San Francisco.

But as for me - it was just too late to become a real cowboy.  Despite 

the sincere & dedicated efforts of my neighbors & close friends Bob & 

Janet Endicott, I was over the hill.  (You got to start early in life to be a 

real cowboy/cowgirl).  Bob & Janet, the consummate horse & cow folks, 

taught me a lot but there are things about cowboying that are not in your 

head, maybe in your genes, your coordinations, your intuition, whatever.  

These qualities translate into a thing that artists & photographers pick 

up on right away - “how good do they look in the saddle.”  The likes of  

Bob & Janet, the McGuinesses, Garl, Dan Cummins, Johnny France, 

Buck Branneman all appear in many of my paintings because they sit so 

well in the saddle - into the Western theme itself. 

In 1987 the Zabel outfit bought the old Hagl place  on North Meadow 

Creek in the extreme North end of the famous Madison Valley & sold out 

in California. 

Why did we do such a bodacious thing?  We had it made in CA - a 

paid for small ranch with creek, pond, pasture; the love & respect of the 

great Naval Weapons Center & environs; a secure & lucrative job.  Our 

well adjusted children were beginning to leave the nest for adventures of  

their own.  Such a deal!!

One day I told my Boss, Steve Sanders, “I want to quit, move to 

Montana & become a cowboy.”

“You What!!!”  he says in disbelief & fear for my sanity.  

I continued on that it was more like becoming a cowboy artist  & telling  

their story thru art: a reporter for today’s cowboy & maybe yesterday’s 

 

Indians & maybe the explorers, & the wild life of the Northern Rockies.

“Sort of Call of the Wild thing,” he says sarcastically.

It was indeed a “CALL.” ----

I answered it & have been a most happy camper ever since.

And I thank you all for making it such a marvelous adventure!"