Meeker, Obituaries

Obituary: David Elmer Allen

David Elmer Allen, the third child of David Thornton and Julia Maudlin Allen, was born Dec. 21, 1925. Dave passed away peacefully on Oct. 10, 2015, at Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Meeker, Colo.

Early in 1927, Dave and his mother, Julia Allen, moved to the Keystone Ranch northwest of Meeker, where Julia was employed as cook and housekeeper for Delaney Brothers. Dave’s brother, Tom, and sister, Edna Mae, stayed with their Aunt Bessie Wear and family or Uncle Elmer Maudlin and family and attended schools in Meeker and Maybell. Dave went to the Price Creek School from the Keystone Ranch.
Although these were the years of the Great Depression, Dave and his mother had a very good life on the ranch, where all their needs for food and shelter were met.
About 1937, the Delaney Brothers sold the Keystone Ranch, which was managed by Ed Delaney. Ed then moved to the ranch west of Meeker, which was the old Delaney Ranch, and Julia and David moved there. Dave then attended school at White River City.
After Ed died in 1939, Julia moved her family to Meeker, where Dave said they were to realize more than before the impact of the Great Depression.
When Dave began school in Meeker that fall, Meeker Elementary School was new and the children played games on and around the mounds of excavated dirt still in the school yard.
His early interest in sports found Dave on the basketball and football teams in high school, traveling to other towns with Coach Paul Starbuck and the townspeople for games.
Pearl Harbor, a U.S. territory, was bombed by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war the following day, on Dec. 8. A month and two years later, shortly after Dave turned 18 during his junior year in high school, he received his draft notice from Uncle Sam. This was in January of 1944. By March of that same year, Dave had entered the U.S. Navy.
Dave went from training at Farragut, Idaho, to California, where he was sent to Hawaii. He then went to the Marianas Islands, where he boarded his ship, the Destroyer, USS John Rodgers, and spent his wartime service in the Pacific theater of war, fighting Japanese military.
The war finally ended in August 1945, and Dave continued to serve until March 1946. He was now a man who was only 20 years old.
Dave had been employed before his time in the service by the Colorado Department of Highways (now CDOT), and he went back to this job when he came home in 1946. Through his 35 years of service, he worked between Rifle, Meeker, Craig and as far away as Berthoud Pass. He also lived and worked for six of these years in Granby, where he held the very important job of clearing the northwest side of Trail Ridge Road each spring, meeting the Estes Park crew, which was clearing the road from the other side. Their meeting at the top opened up travel through Rocky Mountain National Park after the long winter of deep, impassable roads. Dave retired from the State Highway Department in Meeker in January 1981 as senior foreman.
Dave married Bessie Lumpkin in Meeker on Jan. 8, 1949. They would have been married 67 years this January! In December of 1963, they purchased a historical brick home on Cleveland Street, which they still own today, 51 years later.
Dave and Bessie were blessed with three children: Patricia (Patsy) Nay and husband George of Meeker, David Allen and wife Nancy of Meeker, and Timothy Allen of Silt; nine grandchildren: Danina, Amy, Kristina, Joshua, Katy, Keri, Julie, Sean and Brittany; and 16 great-grandchildren: Taylor, Elise, Kacey, Breck, Isaiah, Alyssa, Jackson, Caden, Jacob, Will, Lily, James, Thomas, Fiona, Chandelle and Zachary.
Dave loved and enjoyed them all, and he especially liked playing his harmonica for them.
Dave continued to work after his state retirement. He drove a “CB” bus to Piceance Creek during the oil shale boom in 1981-82. He was a school bus driver for 23 years—for activity trips, relief routes and routes that were also his own. During seven years of this, he also took care of maintenance of the greens and equipment at Meeker Golf Course.
Dave was an accomplished musician, playing the drums in several bands from 1953 to 1983. The first was the Elks Lodge Orchestra in Craig from 1953-54. He played with Al Wear and his band, and he played with the Wagoneers, which consisted of Sam and Jeannie Lockhart, Ernie Coats and Dave.
Dave was active in the community as a volunteer fireman, ambulance driver and EMT from 1970 to 1985. He also served on the town council for eight years.
Dave’s favorite activities were fishing, boating, camping and hunting on Cold Springs Mountain near Brown’s Park with his friends. Dave enjoyed snowmobiling. He also was an avid Denver Broncos fan!
Dave is survived by: his wife, Bessie of the home; all of this children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; his sister, Edna Mae Gould; his many nieces and nephews; and his cousins, George and Alva Wear, Lanor and Lavon Maudlin; and numerous second cousins.

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  • It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
  • Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line.  The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale.
Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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  • Choose-your-own-adventure…. Hear from our Editor in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
  • A crew from the Flat Tops Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined forces last summer to remove obsolete fences to improve habitat for wildlife. Read the full story and the foundation’s update from their 30th Anniversary meeting in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
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It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
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Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week. Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! We appreciate all your continued support!
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Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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A crew from the Flat Tops Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined forces last summer to remove obsolete fences to improve habitat for wildlife. Read the full story and the foundation’s update from their 30th Anniversary meeting in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
A crew from the Flat Tops Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined forces last summer to remove obsolete fences to improve habitat for wildlife. Read the full story and the foundation’s update from their 30th Anniversary meeting in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
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