NCHA Member Clarence Tye of Gill, Colorado passed away at the age of 81 on September 14 after a long fight with cancer.

Tye was born on March 25, 1929 in Greeley, Colorado to Jay and Dora Tye. He attended college at CSU and UNC until entering the US Air Force in 1951. He taught for 30 years in the Napa Valley School District and coached high school baseball. His proteges included Craig Landis who was drafted in the first round in 1977 and Bill Buckner who was drafted in the second round in the 1968 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was selected by the California High School Baseball Coaches Association to coach two all-star teams.

After his retirement, he pursued his hobby of cutting horses and moved to Colorado where he and his wife purchased their ranch in Gill, Colorado. He spent the next 22 years in the cutting horse business. During that period, he served two years as president of the Western States Cutting Horse Association and was inducted into the Western Cutting Horse Hall of Fame in 2009.

Clarence is survived by his wife, Judy, and his three children, Eric Tye of Napa, California, Rhonda Roberts of Rocklin, California, and Kurt Tye of Reno, Nevada. He has five step-children, Ken McKinney of Maui, Hawaii, Dana Wood of Oceanside, California, Dawn McKinney of Loveland, Colorado, Ember McKinney of Oceanside, California and Kacy McKinney of Wisconsin.

A Celebration of Life will be held 12:00 p.m. Saturday, October 9, 2010 at the Clarion Hotel, 701 8th Street in Greeley, Colorado. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Northern Colorado in care of Allnutt Funeral Service, 702 13th Street, Greeley, CO 80631.