Reubecca Jane Luke

Reubecca Jane Luke, Becky, of Hotchkiss, CO, went to Heaven peacefully November 6, 2024. Becky was born on July 13, 1968, in Paonia, CO, to Dixie (Jacobs) and Dion Luke. In 1970 her family moved to Glenwood Springs. Becky spent summers on the Jacobs Ranch at the bottom of McClure Pass and Ragged Mountain. She and Grandpa Stanley tended sheep, cattle, and irrigation on horseback. One morning she called and asked Dion and Dixie to guess what she and Grandpa had done the previous day. “We bought me a horse of my own!” was her joyful answer to her own question. Becky became an outstanding horsewoman. She competed in 4-H and the Appaloosa Horse Association in CO, winning the Reserve National Junior Barrel Racing Championship in 1984. She rode Junior English and dressage in CA competitions.

Becky was actively involved in the Ragged Mountain Outfitters business. As an infant she accompanied her dad and mom on an elk hunt; she packed an elk back to camp from Anthracite country at 10. When the outfitting business acquired a permit in the Snowmass Wilderness, she taught the President of the American Dental Association how to fit his down bag back into a stuff bag. When a guide coming from Alaska got delayed, she guided a reluctant hunter to a 5-point bull and another hunter to a cow the next day. She killed her first deer at 13 and a six-point elk at 16. She went to bear baits and followed baying dogs on lion hunts.

Becky was a competitive basketball player in junior high and her freshman year of high school. Then she received a scholarship offer to Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale as a sophomore and wanted that challenge. And CRMS offered horsemanship. She returned to Glenwood the following year determined to follow her passion to ride horses. She graduated from Glenwood Springs High School in 1986 and continued her education at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, graduating in 1990 with a business marketing degree.

Becky’s first pharmaceutical job was with Marion, Merrell Dow traveling four states calling on doctors. Nebraska was her new home. Next, she worked for Johnson and Johnson as a manager of other reps. She moved to Denver and bought her first house in Washington Park. She eventually became manager for J&J in western US. She received prestigious awards at J&J, including Top 10 in the Nation. Next challenge was with a start-up company, Alza, launching a new drug. She was a teacher and a leader in these jobs.

Becky married Jason Young from Carbondale in 1994. Jason was also in the pharmaceutical business. They remodeled Becky’s 100-year-old house and started the remodel and flip or upgrade housing cycle. They eventually bought a house in Ken Carroll overlooking Denver. Becky bought a horse which was kept at a stable near the airport so she could ride before she boarded a flight and when she came home. She won the amateur reining at the National Western Stock Show in 2001. In 2002 Becky and Jason quit their jobs and traveled the world for the next 18 months. Divorce happened.

Eventually Becky met Terrill Ostrum from Montana. They had horses, cattle, and friendships in common. Becky moved to the Red Lodge, MT, area and traveled with Terrill who brokers cattle across the US. His customers loved her as she could work cattle, help with weigh-ups, or ask about their family. Fletch became her go-to horse. In 2015 Becky & Fletch won the National Reined Cow Horse Association buckle for the state of MT. Together Terrill and Becky campaigned a mare to the Snaffle Bit Futurity in Reno, NV, ending up 13th out of 200 entries.

Montana winters sent Becky back to Denver where she started an Air BnB in Washington Park and Dirty Paws, a pet care service. Denver was growing too fast for a girl whose heart was in the country. She asked about coming back to Hotchkiss and converting the house her great-grandparents had built into an Air BnB. She developed an agri-business at Jacobs Ranch Homestead that attracted travelers from across the US and the world. Dirty Paws gained the confidence of many locals who wanted to be away and leave their animals at home.

Becky leaves childhood and college friends, people she mentored, horse friends, and a heart-broken family—including her 98-year-old grandmother, Arlene Luke of Denver, aunt’s: Janice Chesnik of Paonia and Mary Jacobs of Washington, uncle Greg Luke of Westminster, nieces, and nephews: Asti Luke, Katie Sinclair, Jennifer Murphy, Jason Jacobs, and Ed Chesnik. Her grandparents: Ed Luke, Marjorie and Stanley Jacobs welcomed her arrival at Heaven’s Door. And “Goose,” a young gelding, she recently bought with the plan of riding in the mountains and getting him ready to do arena reining or working cow horse, nickers when someone comes with his grain in the morning.

Services will be held at the Elks Lodge in Hotchkiss on Friday, December 13, at 11 am followed by lunch and visiting time. In lieu of flowers, we believe Becky would appreciate a donation to: End of the Trail Rescue, 5814 Hwy 348, Olathe, CO 81425. View the Internet obituary and sign the online guest registry at: www.taylorfuneralservice.com.