Aaron James McCorkindale

Aaron James McCorkindale passed away unexpectedly on November 14th, 2022, at the young age of 24.

Aaron was born on February 10, 1998, in Salida, CO. He was a sensitive, adventurous soul who never knew a stranger. He loved to make people laugh and always had a joke to tell. His smile could light up a room. Aaron had a heart of gold and was always full of love and forgiveness. He was talented and knew how to live life to the fullest. He loved with all his heart and was very protective of his friends and family and had so many adventures in life.

Being born in the middle of this wonderful mountain town he was always seeking adventures and was always up and going. As one family member put it “Aaron lived his life with his hair on fire.”

Aaron participated in 4-H. Through 4-H, Aaron learned many skills such as how to do dog obedience, cake decorating, baking, leather crafting and braiding, shooting, and archery. He was a skilled archer and baker. Taking grand champion in the state fair for his amazing apple pie.

He was an amazing musician and could play any instrument he set his mind to, trumpet, guitar, alto saxophone, and many others. His sister remembers how he once asked to play her alto saxophone and within an hour he was able to play it well and went downtown in Salida to play “Careless Whisper.” Aaron also worked hard on learning how to play his family's favorite songs on his guitar including teaching himself how to play the guitar instrumental “Classical Gas”.

Aaron was a talented actor. He did drama all throughout middle school and high school and once dreamed of becoming an actor, and he even brought his fencing training into one of his performances.

Aaron, being a fast learner, taught himself a variety of talents. He taught himself how to contact and fire juggle, unicycle, parkour, mechanics, gold panning, and blacksmithing to name a few. He learned to contact juggle in order to portray the character Jareth, from the movie “Labyrinth,” at Comic Con. He made a variety of gifts for friends and family members from blacksmithing.

Aaron did Tai Kwan Do and Boy Scouts throughout his school years. In Tai Kwan Do he had a purple belt and was planning on continuing to get his black belt. He was known for his amazing flying side kick. Aaron graduated from Horizons Exploratory Academy in 2017. There he gained a deeper appreciation for the outdoors and became an avid hiker, camper, and cave explorer.

He loved skiing. Going up to the mountain was one of his favorite things to do and he was excited to work at Monarch for the 2022-2023 ski season. His adventurous soul led him to the river for rafting and kayaking. And you could often see Aaron riding around town on his motorcycle. Lately though, he dreamed of becoming a pilot. He loved being in the air and loved the sense of freedom it gave him. He was planning on going to aviation school to become an official commercial pilot.

Having nearly lost him to numerous intussusceptions as an infant, and then to almost lose him again to devastating effects of Stevens Johnson Syndrome at 10 years old, his family admired his courage as he silently dealt with the lifelong aftereffects of Stevens Johnson Syndrome and will always be grateful for the time that they did have with him.

Aaron will always be remembered by his mother and father, Terry and Jim McCorkindale. His older sister Shaunalee McCorkindale and her partner Terry Gardunio and his daughter Senecka. His older sister Jayme Jefferson, her husband Scott, and their daughter Skylar. Aaron loved being a dad-like figure to both of his nieces and went out of his way to make them both happy.

Aaron also leaves behind many Aunts and Uncles, his dog, Figaro and his dearly beloved cat, Turbo. Both of his animals miss their human greatly.

To say he will be missed doesn’t even begin to describe the sentiment. The world lost a truly amazing person, and we are so thankful and blessed that we had him for as long as we did.

His family is planning on having a celebration of life for him on May 20, 2023. An announcement with details will follow later.

The family has asked that people write down their memories of Aaron so that a remembrance book can be made for his nieces and family. A memorial account has been set up at High Country Bank, or donations can be made to the Stevens Johnson Foundation.

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