David Jewell Moreland

Dave was born on April 13, 1946 in Colorado Springs, CO, to Jewell and Mary Moreland. He grew up in the small Colorado town of Del Norte, where his father owned and operated a sawmill. He graduated from Del Norte High School in 1964, and he married Linda Davis in 1968, also of Del Norte. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry from Colorado State University in 1969, and was a member of the Farmhouse Fraternity. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1970 through 1973, and he and Linda lived in California and Hawaii while he was stationed in San Diego, Stockton, and Honolulu. He was a Petty Officer Radioman 2nd Class on the USS Epperson destroyer and he received several medals for combat service in the Vietnam War.

After being discharged from the Navy, Dave and his family moved to the White Mountains of Arizona and settled in Pinetop-Lakeside in 1974. He began a long career with the U.S. Department of the Interior, working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Whiteriver, AZ, for more than three decades. Over the years, he worked his way up to the Head of Timber Sales on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. In addition, he served on interagency Wildland Fire Incident Management Teams every summer for 30+ years, where he held various roles, including Plans Chief and Unit Resource Leader. After retiring from the BIA and his fire team, he and Linda moved to Montrose, CO.

Dave had many hobbies he enjoyed, including a lifetime of fishing and hunting (frequently bringing down a deer or elk with a single shot), trap & skeet shooting, growing a garden that was the envy of the neighborhood, restoring classic cars, and 4-wheeling in the mountains of Colorado. He loved being outdoors, as well as spending time with his family and friends in nature and the forests that shaped so much of his life and career. He was also an unabashed lover of the family felines, and adored all of the many cats the family rescued over the years.

Dave passed away on June 29, 2021, in Grand Junction, CO. He leaves behind his wife Linda and their two daughters, Kristal and Bethanie. He worked hard his entire life so they could have a comfortable home, a good education, and fulfilling lives, for which they will always be grateful.

There will be no memorial service, but any well-wishes, endearing stories, or comments about your memories of Dave would be welcome. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association or your local animal shelter.