John C. Mabee (August 21, 1921 – April 24, 2002) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder whom About.com called "a California racing icon."
A native of Seymour, Iowa, as a young man of twenty, John Mabee moved to San Diego, California, where the climate more suited his health, having had pneumonia and bronchitis.
He turned that corner grocery store into the highly successful Big Bear Markets chain in San Diego County, selling it in 1994 to Albertsons and Fleming Companies.
John Mabee served as a director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and was a member of The Jockey Club from 1985 to his death in 2002.
For a time, John Mabee owned a 20 percent interest in the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League.