Donald Blair "Bunky" Peak
Marriages
Shirley Cartwright - September 19, 1951
Married in Dragerton, UT
Obituaries
The Daily Sentinel page 8B - August 28, 2022
Donald Blair (Bunky)
Peak was born on January
25, 1932, in Rigby,
Idaho, to John and Emma
(Klinger) Peak. His first
years of his life were spent
living with his parents
in a railroad box car between Green River, Utah and
Fruita, Colorado, while his dad worked on the railroad
construction gang.
He attended school in Dragerton, Utah. He started his
coal mining career for United States Steel on September
11, 1950, at the Horse Canyon Mine. On September
19, 1951, he married Shirley Cartwright in Dragerton,
Utah. They had been married 60 years when she passed
in November 2011.
In January of 1952, he was drafted into the U.S. Army,
having served as a put-2 during the Korean conflict,
spending his time in Germany. He was honorably
discharged in December 1953. At that time he returned
to work at the Horse Canyon Mine until a layoff in 1963.
At that time he moved his wife and four daughters to
Gilman, Colorado, where he went to work at the New
Jersey Zinc Mine. In 1966 the family moved to Paonia,
Colorado, where he went to work at the U.S. Steel Mine
in Somerset, Colorado, where he finished his mining
career.
He was a proud member of the United Mine Workers
and the American Legion. Don passed away July 31,
2022, in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he had
resided since 2018 with his daughter, Barbara. He was
surrounded by his loving family when he passed. He
enjoyed wood working, fishing, but most of all his
family.
Anybody that knew him knew when you asked him
how he was, he replied, “drinking beer and chasin’
women.”
He is survived by his daughters, Barbara (Ted) Pierce
of Grand Junction, Donna Ross of Grand Junction,
Cindy Ungaro (Dave Stewart) of Paonia, and Stephanie
(Greg) Sipe of Cedaredge; seven grandchildren, Nicole
(Jeff) Walters, Amber (Blair) Elsberry, Heather (Bryan)
Johnson, Christen (Jared) Lester, Tyler(Michelle) Ross,
Tanner (Lizzie) Ross, Jessica (Cameron) Rountree;
sixteen great grandchildren; and one great greatgrandchild; one brother; and one sister.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley; his
parents; one brother; one sister; and one grandson,
Justin.
Internment with his wife, Shirley, for eternity will be
September 1, 2022, at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery,
2830 Riverside Parkway, Grand Junction, Colorado, at
1:00 p.m.
