In Loving Memory
David Otto Thun
1934 ~ 2025
David Otto Thun, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and dear friend to many, passed away at the age of 90 in his home on a peaceful winter afternoon on January 10th, 2025. He was met in heaven in a joyous reunion with his long awaiting son Victor, parents, and other family members.
David was born at the Salt Lake General Hospital on November 18th, 1934, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Helmut Otto Gottlieb Thun and Jenny Van Otten Thun Hardman Angell. He was the second child of seven children born to his mother, and was so adorable, he won the Hermione Temple No. 8, Pythian Sister Baby Show.
In his younger years, David lived an adventurous life in Salt Lake County, Chesterfield, and Midvale, Utah. David formed a good relationship with his siblings, parents, and grandparents. He had fond memories with his siblings, and he would retell stories of his childhood many times throughout his life. They kept in contact and often reminisced their memories together while on the phone, traveling, or attending reunions.
After many hardships and trials, David, 17 with a few dollars in his pocket, journeyed off with a good friend to Cody, Wyoming to find a better life. Upon arrival, he got many jobs painting houses, fixing up buildings and barns, and chopping wood. One evening after work he and his buddy went fishing at the lake in front of the Lewis Ranch. They didn’t catch any fish that night, but little did he know that he would soon meet the biggest catch of his life.
On the way home, they stopped by the Lewis residence to pay a visit. There he met a sweet young lady named Ramona Pearl Lewis whom he took an instant liking to – and she to him. David spent a lot of time at their home getting to know Ramona and her family by helping with the daily chores of milking and feeding the cows. They started their courtship by going to the movies, getting ice cream, playing tennis, engaging in card games, but their favorite was swinging on the front porch swing.
After about a year of courtship and to Ramona’s fathers dismay, David and Ramona dashed off and eloped to Billings, Montana where they were married by a judge on June 30th, 1953, honeymooned off to Yellowstone, and then went to Salt Lake to tell their exciting news to his mother. When things settled down with her father, he gifted them a milk cow as a wedding gift in approval of their decision. Later they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on the 31st of May 1962. Together with family and friends, they were excited to celebrate their 70th Anniversary in the summer of 2023. They were married for just over 71 years.
A few months after their marriage, David volunteered for the draft in the United States Army. In November of 1953, he spent six months in Basic Training in Fort Ord., California, and then went to Fort Carson, Colorado where he attended Army Dog training school. From there he was assigned to the 49th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon. He graduated at the top of the dog training class with one of the most difficult dogs to train named Kashia. He then went to Fort Lewis, Washington and was assigned to the Sixth Army. He was discharged from active service and served in the Army Reserve until 1961 where he received an Honorable Release. After returning home from the Army, David went to work for the Husky Oil Company at the Refinery in Cody.
Even though David did not graduate from High School or college, he excelled in his life by always learning and working hard. He took and completed several courses by mail including The Northwestern School of Taxidermy in Omaha. He mounted an owl that still hangs on a wall in their home. He also took a comprehensive course in carpentry from Chicago Trade of Institute and received one of the highest scores ever given there. Most importantly he used these skills effectively as he designed and built several custom homes and eye-catching barns. Additionally, he took an art class in Cody as he enjoyed painting and gifted many of his paintings to his children and grandchildren to enjoy.
David and Ramona together raised their children Virginia, Cindy, Jerry, Janet, Barbara, Georgia, and Deanna in Cody. They reared and taught their children the greater values of life of how to work and serve others. David bought a Coast to Coast Hardware Business where Ramona had been working. It was a family store. All of their children worked there and worked hard to make it a business together. They grew close together and learned teamwork as it succeeded and provided for their family. Later after they sold Coast to Coast, they moved to West Jordan, Utah, Blackfoot, Idaho, and eventually settled in Payson, Utah. Cody remained his favorite, and it was always home to him in his heart.
David’s love language was gift-giving. Not only did he love to give gifts to his children at Christmas, but he also taught them the meaning of giving in the community as they went around doing Sub-for-Santa. He had teasing antics up his sleeves and always made his kids smile and feel loved. He always made sure his children had great memories with him by riding bikes, treating them to Dairy Queen, the Covered Wagon, Mickey’s Market, Coley’s Cafe, or the A&W Stand. David loved taking his children to the drive-in movies. On occasion, he would stop at the Sunset Grocery Store where everyone would choose ten penny treats before the movie, or surprise them each with a box of Cracker Jacks (each daughter hoping to find a ring prize inside). If they weren’t at the drive-in, they would watch movies at home, their family favorite being “Texas Across the River”.
He loved to stick to a weekly schedule, part of which was watching a John Wayne movie from his prized collection on Friday nights. Saturday was a day specifically to prepare for Sunday. He would often wake the kids up by singing “Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day” and some yodeling. They would then get up, turn on some cartoons, and do their morning chores. After all of the day’s tasks and shining all of the shoes, his daughters would all sit expectantly in front of the tv, with hair in curlers, waiting for their turn to dance with their dad leading them on his feet to the Lawrence Welk Show.
David was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on June 30th, 1945, and confirmed the next day. He was devoted and had many church callings and loved to serve. Some of those included a Stake Missionary, a Sunday School President, a Stake Genealogy Librarian, a Counselor in the Bishopric, a Financial Clerk, a Nursery Assignment, a Door Greeter, a High Priest Group Leader, and a Temple worker at the Provo Temple. He always had a Home Teacher calling and never missed a month. Additionally, he had the sacred calling of bringing the bread for the sacrament on Sundays. All of these church callings provided him with both spiritual and personal growth helping him develop a firm testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Sundays became his favorite day of the week. He practiced his army training drill as he had the kids line up, standing at attention before church to make sure they were presentable. He would say “Attention! Wipe off those smiles and throw them to the ground”. While trying to hold straight faces, the kids would end up giggling instead. After church, they came home to Ramona’s home cooked meals which usually consisted of a roast beef or fried chicken dinner always served with mashed potatoes. No one could whip up mashed potatoes by hand so buttery and smooth as David could! Dessert was his favorite part of the dinner as he had quite the sweet tooth. He loved all of the sweets Ramona baked, especially her perfectious pies of all kinds and the prize nut and oatmeal raisin cookies stored in the cookie jar. Ramona acquired the nickname of “Cookie” from David. The family also took Sunday drives visiting neighbors or stayed home and had their favorite sour cream sugar popcorn while watching Mutual of Omaha or a Disney Sunday Movie.
David was gifted with many talents. He loved creating beautiful pieces of wood furniture such as lamps, treasure boxes, rocking horses and an entertainment center that he built with his son, Jerry. His interests and hobbies were unlimited. He loved animals of all kinds and always wanted a horse of his own. This led him into buying many more horses and getting into the business of raising Appaloosa and Quarter Horses. His horses instantly knew to come running the moment they heard him whistle. For 29 years, he showed his horses, which became National and World Champions. David was invited to Los Angeles, California, and received the Breeders Award from the Appaloosa Horse Club. He also organized the 4-H Horse Club in Cody, Wyoming in which some of his children participated. Just for fun, David enjoyed raising chickens and taught his son how to take care of them. It was quite the fiasco when the chicken coop blew over in the Cody wind and chickens were running lose all over the farmyard. He was also a collector of all collections including coins, marbles, model cars, pocketknives, and trains. He built a huge model train railroad with a switchboard and loved being the engineer with a hat and whistle. This is something he loved to share with his grandkids and would let them wear the hat, blow the whistle, and control the panel as they watched the trains travel around the railway. He had a spectacular green thumb and had a passion for gardening. With meticulous precision, he cared for his vegetable garden, fruits trees, flower beds, and yard and was awarded “Yard of the Month”. He loved bird watching while working in his yard, especially watching the hummingbirds, quails, hawks, blue jays, and many other varieties.
Some of the favorite memories by his grandchildren were visiting him and eating a cold circle slice of Green River Watermelon or enjoying a popsicle or root beer float. They loved to play checkers or a game of chess on his valued chess set. He helped them make wooden Pinocchio puppets and would have them sand their own pieces so he could later put them together and paint them. He taught them how to play a game of marbles, one of his favorite activities as a child. The grandkids would line up in front of his recliner as he used a hairbrush to tickle their feet. Everyone was excited to play a game of pool with him or turn on some records from his collection with his favorites by Eddie Arnold and dance to the oldies.
David will be greatly missed by all family members and to each one he would have said, “Don’t take any wooden nickels”, which meant be on your best behavior.
He is survived by his wife, Ramona Pearl Lewis Thun, and their children, Virginia (Scotty) Bitton, Cindy (Bruce) Roper, Jerry (Marie) Thun, Janet Schneider, Barbara (Chris) Davidson, Georgia (David) Arnold, and Deanna (Shawn) Diehl. He leaves behind 31 grandchildren, many great grandchildren, and was excited to be a great great grandfather. He is also survived by two stepbrothers Allen and Dee Hardman and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his son Victor David Thun; his parents, Helmut Otto Gottlieb Thun, and Jenny Van Otten Thun Hardman Angell; his brothers Robert Thun, Richard Thun, Curtis Thun; stepsister Bonnie Hardman and Son-in-Law Paul Schnieder.
The family would like to give their great appreciation to The Serenity Team who helped care for him, special neighbor friends who shoveled their snow for years, his Ward members for their visits, and the Walker Funeral Home.
A graveside memorial service and interment will be held on May 30, 2025 at 9:30 am at the Cody Riverside Cemetery located at 1721 Gulch Street in Cody, Wyoming.
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