Dave DeWaard
David Charles DeWaard was the youngest of five children born to Charles and Wilma DeWaard on Jan. 12, 1952.
They moved to Lynden, when Dave was 3 years old to be closer to family after Charles was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Dave and his four sisters worked on their chicken farm with their mother while attending Lynden Christian.
Dave married his high school sweetheart, Ardi DeJong, in 1970. Together they raised four children and were active in the Nooksack Valley Baptist Church and most recently Grace Baptist Church.
In February 1986 they embarked on an 11-year journey of hard work and smiles serving friends at Ardi’s Deli and Everson Laundromat.
Dave started his working career building houses, including building two houses on the weekends that became family homes. He then dairied for a short time, but had to get off the farm because of allergies.
In the 1980s, Dave took his talents to Germania Dairy Center which would later become Blue Diamond Dairy Service. Wanting to take on a new challenge, in 1990 Dave started Daritech Inc. in a small corner of Andgar’s warehouse on 19th Street.
Dave and Daritech’s first line of equipment was Westfalia that he purchased from Scholten’s Equipment.
Through the years, under Dave’s leadership, Daritech continued to grow including becoming a national manufacturer of dairy and manure handling equipment.
Daritech Inc. now resides on Benson Road in Lynden. In spite of the growth, his passion remained taking care of Daritech’s local customers.
Dave enjoyed providing solutions to them that would help them to be successful. He had an inventor’s mind and an incredible work ethic, willing to put in whatever hours it took to take care of a customer.
Although having a hard time accepting it, after over 32 years, Dave was planning on retiring from Daritech at the end of this year.
In 1993, Dave and his oldest son Ryan took a special trip and drove to Stickney, SD to retrieve Dave’s step-dad Grandpa Dick’s 1951 Chevy farm truck.
After the truck hung around the homestead for a couple decades in various pieces, Dave had it beautifully restored.
This was the beginning of Dave’s interest in old cars including showing at local car shows, including Razz Fest just a couple weeks ago.
Dave’s last ride to his final resting place will be in the back of his 1951 Chevy.
Over 39 years ago Dave and Ardi bought their 100 year old house on Badger Road and have enjoyed countless hours remodeling and restoring it together.
As much as Dave enjoyed working on his farm, working with his customers and spending time building and creating, he would be quick to say that his family and his faith in Jesus Christ were closest to his heart.
Looking at the beauty surrounding him, Dave would often wonder out loud incredulously to Ardi as to how people could question whether there was a God.
He would marvel at how every detail, every cause and effect magnificently worked together by God’s perfect design.
July 26, 2022 Dave took his last hike starting at Hannegan Pass Trailhead.
The last picture taken on his phone is a selfie from the trail with Mt. Ruth behind him with a happy, peaceful, content smile across his face. He started back down the mountain and died of unknown causes along the trail on his return.
David is survived by Ardi, his wife of 52 years, his children Lisa Cowan (Travis) of Sequim, WA and their children Cody (Jazlyn), Jonathan (Anna and their children David and Adam), Benjamin, Isaiah, Anna and Sarah; Ryan DeWaard (Heidi) of Lynden and their children Shelby, Brooks (Shanoah), Walker and Ellie; Mindi Nardella (John Paul) of Maple Valley, WA and their children Abbey, Claire, Samuel and Simon; and Dan DeWaard (Tracy) of Lynden and their daughter January.
Dave is also survived by sisters Dixie Kraght and Ruth Bajema.
He was preceded in death by his parents and by sisters Burdena Pasenelli and Ruby Mans.
A public visitation will be held at Gillies Funeral Home (gilliesfuneralhome.com) on Sunday, August 7 from 2-5 p.m.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 9 at North County Christ the King in Lynden (https://www.ncctk.com/) 1816 18th St., Lynden.
To watch the memorial service live streamed, go to www.facebook.com/GilliesFuneralHomeAndCremationServices.
The graveside service for family will be at Monumenta Cemetery in Lynden Aug. 9 at 11 a.m.
If you’d like to make a memorial donation in Dave’s name, donations can be made to Samaritans Purse, https://samaritanspurse.org.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
