Dean H. Van Gundy
Marriages
Arlene Dangler
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7 B Obituary - June 11, 2016
Dean H. Van Gundy
June 28, 1933 - June 8, 2016
Dean H. Van Gundy, 82, lost his years-long battle with congestive heart failure Wednesday and died in his home on the bluff overlooking the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers close to the 5th Street bridge.
“It happened precisely as he would have wanted,” said his son, Randy.
Van Gundy was born June 28, 1933, in Grand Junction to Earl
H. and Elveta Van Gundy (nee Wales, Olathe, CO), graduated
from Grand Junction High School in 1950, attended Mesa
College but after one year joined the U.S. Marines, where while serving in Korea was twice wounded and received two Purple Hearts. One of his wounds required surgery in Japan and for a time he was paralyzed from the waist down.
He met and married Arlene Dangler in 1956, a Central High
School graduate and is survived by three children, Cindy
Zwinggi (Stan) of Fredericksburg, TX; Jana Franklin, Grand
Junction, and Randy Van Gundy, Grand Junction. Two other
children from previous relationships are Kim Renner (Len) of
California, and Rick Kensington of Denver, CO. Also,
grandchildren are Krystal Zwinggi, San Antonio, TX and
Stanley Zwinggi (Kendal), New Braunfels, TX; Byron Franklin
(Renee), San Antonio, TX; Travis Franklin, Boulder, CO, and
Clake Van Gundy, Grand Junction, and great-granddaughter,
Scarlett Grace Zwinggi, New Braunfels, TX. His survivors also
include his sister, Norma Rhinehart (Norm), Reato, CA, and
Shirlene Van Gundy (pre-deceased him in 2000), and brothers
Monte Van Gundy (Teri), Long Beach, CA, and Eldon Van
Gundy, Grand Junction.
Called “Warrior” by George Crawford in his book, ATTIC,
Dusting of Grand Junction, Colorado’s Past, (© 2008, D.D.
Brocker, Western Reflections Publishing), Van Gundy will be
remembered for his many altercations with the Grand Junction
City Council which in 2006 decided that because it wanted to
make the view of the city from the 5th street bridge more
appealing, it had the right to force Van Gundy from the property his family has homesteaded in 1903 and on which the Van Gundy business, Ampco, Inc., a recycling center, had done business for many years. Van Gundy’s headstone will bear the words “Protect your property rights.”
In 2005, Grand Junction created a plan for its new Riverfront
Parkway and Dean Van Gundy’s unsightly recycling center was
in the way of the City Council’s plans so he was told to move
his business…"under threat of condemnation." The City and
Van Gundys were able to work out their differences and Van
Gundy created a State of the Art recycling facility. Van Gundy
turned the company over to his son, Randy, in 2006. The two of them, Dean and Randy, worked side by side for 33 years and were featured on the cover of a national magazine, Recycling Today (January 2011 issue).
Grand Junction residents have, for years, enjoyed Van Gundy’s political billboard signs on the 5th Street bridge. The current sign says “Donald Trump the Dragon Slayer.” Over the years, Van Gundy also used the billboard to inform people using the 5th Street bridge who enter Grand Junction of the rights being stolen from them by government.
“He was years ahead of Donald Trump in recognizing
corruption,” said his daughter, Cindy Zwinggi. “However, it is
important for people to know that he had nothing but
compliments and praise for the medical care he received at the local VA hospital.”
“My dad knew and cared about so many people in this
community,” said Van Gundy’s daughter, Jana Franklin. “Few
people know that when Dad was 13, he had a serious burn on
his leg and had to go to Shriners Hospital for Children where
they saved his leg. He was a strong supporter of Shriners!”
Van Gundy was noted for his love of America’s military and,
according to his family, he exited the world exemplifying the
Marine code of “Semper Fi.”
A Funeral Mass will take place on Thursday, June 16, at 11:00
a.m. at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Interment will take
place at the Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery at 1:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to be made to the
Shriners Children’s Hospital.
