David M. "Dave" Drayer
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 11A - October 6, 2021
David M. Drayer
January 14, 1941 - September 23, 2021
David M. Drayer, 80, of Indianapolis, passed away
September 23, 2021, with his loving family by his side.
Born January 14, 1941, in Akron, Ohio, he was
the third of four children of Harold T. Sr., and Millie
(Packo) Drayer. David was a graduate of Union City
High School, Union City, PA, class of 1958. The family
moved there when he was two. After graduation, David
moved to Chicago, where he met the love of his life,
Dolores, in Sunday school class, where they learned that
they had the same birthday. They married in Chicago
on February 11, 1961, and joined David’s older brother
on a dairy farm in Boscobel, Wisconsin. That didn’t
last long, or lasted too long you might say, and later
they returned to Chicago where he became a carpenter.
That is until November 1965 when he received a letter
from his Uncle Sam requesting his presence in the
US Army. From there he saw Ft. Polk, Louisiana, Ft.
Leonard Wood, Missouri, and ultimately much of South
Vietnam, returning home in 1967.
In 1976, Dave, Dolores and their three sons moved to
Ouray, Colorado, a dream for them. Dave built, and he
along with his wife ran the Matterhorn Motel (known
then as the Bright Diamond Motel). Then in 1991 he
built, and he and Dolores ran the Comfort Inn (now the
Quality Inn) from which they retired in 1999, and then
traveled extensively in their RV.
David is survived by his loving wife, Dolores; sons,
David, Grand Junction; Darrin, Indianapolis, and Dodd,
Greenwood, IN, and his partner, Liam Williams, who
was loved like a son. He is also survived by his brother,
Les, Union City, PA; grandchildren, Tristen, Seneca, SC;
Teagan, Grand Junction, and Aidan Gutierrez (Edgar),
of Aurora, CO and their children Joanna, Taran, and
Alistair, and many nieces and nephews.
Cremation has taken place, and the family will gather
together when Dolores passes to scatter both of their
ashes together, along with those of their beloved pets
at the Colorado National Monument, a favorite place.
Dave wanted all who remembered him to know that
even though he spent his final four years in Indiana, he
didn’t want to be thought of as a ‘Hoosier’, as in his
heart he was always a Coloradan.
His family will always be grateful for sharing our
lives with him. We will remember his “punny” sense
of humor, and the good, kind, gentle man he was. We
loved him beyond measure, and he in turn loved us and
cared for us. We will miss him so, so much.
