Donald Brady Larson, 1965-2009, Battle Mountain High grad
Memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Sunday in Grand Junction
Vail, CO Colorado

Donald Brady Larson, 43, of Grand Junction, passed away Feb. 6 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Donald was born June 23, 1965, in Inglewood, Calif., to David and Toni Larson. His early years included Huntington Beach, Calif., Pueblo, and Centereach, N.Y. In 1978, his family moved to the Vail Valley. He attended Battle Mountain High School from 1979 to 83, graduating with honors.

Don attended the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, earning bachelor’s degrees of in science and mechanical engineering in 1988 and a master of science, applied mechanics, in 1991.

He moved to Wolfurt, Austria, in 1991 to work for Doppelmayr Seilbahnen as a project engineer. He spent weekends hiking and mountain biking the Bregenzerwald, skied in Vorarlberg and Tirol, and traveled in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Switzerland.

He moved to Grand Junction in 1992 to work for Poma of America as a project engineer. He became a professional engineer in 1995. He joined Tramway Engineering in 1998 as an engineering consultant before opening his own consulting business, Ropeway Technical Services, in 2003.

He was diagnosed with ALS in 2005 but continued to work through 2007. In 2008, he was proud to receive the Robert Lesage Award for contribution and devotion to the ski industry.

Don played the saxophone for 12 years in symphonies and marching and jazz bands, and played the electric bass for six years in jazz bands and musicals. He climbed 17 of Colorado’s 14ers, enjoyed mountain biking, skiing and scuba diving.

Don met Gretchen Margaret Buck on a blind date in 1995. He convinced her to learn to scuba dive in addition to their other common interests of hiking, biking and skiing. They married April 25, 1998, at West Bay, Grand Cayman.

Don is survived by his wife; daughter Elisabeth; son Tyler; his parents; sister Laura; nieces; a nephew; and in-laws.

Don has asked that his ashes be scattered. Don asked that donations be made to: ALS Therapy Development Institute (http://www.als.net) or Hospice & Palliative Care of Western CO (http://www.hospicewco.com).

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Sunday at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary, 2515 Patterson Road in Grand Junction.

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