David Frank Healy

Together with his brother Harry, he grew up in that town and in Madison, Wisconsin. He went as a merchant seaman to the Pacific War Theater in the closing months of World War II, and after the war sailed on the South American run. Returning to Madison, he received a BA degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1951. From 1951 to 1955 he served in the US Navy. After a year working for the Nevada Highway Department, he became a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, receiving a PhD in U.S. History in 1960.

After teaching History at Illinois College and the University of Delaware, David joined the History Department of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1966, remaining there after his retirement in 1993 to teach part-time until 1998. He was the author of five books about historical aspects of U.S. foreign relations, and continued to review and referee books in his field for academic journals and publishers after his retirement.

At the center of his life were his wife, children and grandchildren. In 1959 he married Ann Erickson of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, whom he met in graduate school. The couple had three children and two grandchildren, making up a close-knit family. On Ann’s retirement from teaching English Composition and History, also at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, David and Ann moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, a state they had grown to love from many years of downhill skiing. David’s favorite pastimes were reading, hiking, skiing and travel, all of which he practiced enthusiastically in retirement. For several years Dave volunteered his time delivering books to the homebound for the Fort Collins Public Library and was a volunteer at performances at the Lincoln Center.

The greatest heartbreak of Dave’s life was the loss of his daughter Ellen in 2007.

Dave is survived by wife Ann, sons Matthew (Kim) and Jonathan (Anita), grandchildren Timmy and Alexandra, brother-in-law Joe (Dianne), nieces Chris (Mark) and Anne (Don), sister-in-law Edna, niece Annelle (Ben) and nephew Mike (Billie). His brother Harry died in 2008.

A celebration of Dave’s life will be held at Avogadro’s Number, 605 S Mason St, Fort Collins, CO 80524 on July 5, 2019 at 11:00am.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to Catholic Charities of Fort Collins.