Dave Nordhagen

Dave Nordhagen, 62, died early Monday, Jan. 13, 2014, at St. Patrick Hospital from complications of heart surgery. He tried his best to stay with us – his nurse had said that it was amazing that he was still alive – but in the end, his wife, son and daughter were there to let him go.

Dave and his brother Dan were born in Missoula on Oct. 27, 1951. Their parents, Don and Miriam, already had one son, Raleigh. The family lived in many towns in Montana as well as Seattle and Sandpoint, Idaho.

Dave married Mary Scott on Nov. 10, 1984, in Moscow, Idaho. They had two children, Eric and Rachel. The family lived in Lewiston, Idaho, for many years before moving to Missoula in 2001. It had always been Dave's dream to live in Montana again, and the whole family was and is glad to live here now.

When asked what comes to mind when they think of their dad, Rachel said comfort and humor. He was one of her very best friends, and it is hard for her to realize that she will no longer be able to just decide to spend the day with him. Eric remembers camping, fishing and just generally how fun it was to hang out with his dad.

Dave loved fishing, hunting and camping. He had real empathy for all he met, enjoying the personal connection of a shared joke with everyone from his closest friends to the clerk at the store.

Even as his family grieves Dave's loss, we welcome his granddaughter Alice Elizabeth, Rachel's first child, born Wednesday, Jan. 15. Dave's surviving family will make sure she knows how much he was looking forward to her arrival. Those survivors include his wife, Mary; son, Eric; daughter, Rachel, her partner Geoff and their daughter Alice; his brother, Raleigh and Raleigh's sons Frank and Mark; Frank's wife, Vanessa and their children Hayly and Gabe; and his brother, Dan and wife Lisa and their sons Raleigh and Nicholas and daughter Sydney and her husband James.

There will be a memorial service at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Missoula, 102 McLeod Ave. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice

Read Dave Nordhagen's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.