David B. Santos

David B. Santos, 89, died peacefully Thursday, June 10, 2010 at Sierra Vista Health Care facility in Loveland, CO. David's family was at his side when he passed away. David was born on March 17, 1921 in Tulsa, OK to Fred Santos and Grace Vara Santos. David was one of 12 children in the Santos family; migrant workers who traveled from Texas to Colorado to California when the children were young. When David was in his teenage years, the Santos family was in Ft. Collins, CO, where David met the love of his life, his future wife, Virginia Ayala. After Pearl Harbor, David enlisted in the US Army and served in the European Theater starting in North Africa, to Sicily, to Italy. David was wounded in combat in Italy. After recovering from his wounds, he was assigned to the troops preparing for D-Day. He was in the 4th wave of soldiers to land on Omaha beach. He was then assigned to General Patton's Third Army and was part of the forces that broke the siege at the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded a second time while he was with a convoy of gasoline tankers taking supplies to the front. His war injuries left him permanently disabled. After returning from the war, David arrived in Ft. Collins two days before Thanksgiving in 1945. He married Virginia Ayala on September 12, 1946. David and Virginia made Ft. Collins their home and had two children, Albert and Rita. David worked at various jobs at Meyer Bros Hatchery, and Forney Industries through the years. David's love of music led to a family band that saw them playing throughout Northern Colorado. David also spent many hours as a craftsman for Virginia; building her dreams and designs into reality. He was always busy building something around their home. On March 15, 2009, Virginia died suddenly of a heart attack, while David was in the hospital recovering from a stroke. David's lifetime of health problems prevented him from returning home alone without Virginia, so in June 2009, David moved to Sierra Vista Health Care facility. In the short time that David stayed at Sierra Vista, he made many friends with the other residents and staff. David is survived by his children, Albert J. Santos of Loveland, and Rita Daniel St. John of Ft. Collins. He was a loving & caring grandfather of four; Patrick Jayme Santos and Chris Kimberlee Santos, both of Loveland, Greg Kayla St. John of Evans, and Jennifer St. John of Ft. Collins. He has three great grandchildren, Elijah & Joshua sons of Patrick & Jayme and Adam son of Chris & Kimberlee. He is also survived by brothers, Jim & Manuel and sister Frances of California, along with brother Nick of Ft Collins. He has many nieces & nephews throughout the United States. He was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia; his parents; brothers, Wallace, Fred, Henry, & Lee and sisters, Isabel, Jenny, & Lulu. A Memorial Service with Military Honors will be held on Thursday, June 24th at 3:00 PM at Bohlender Funeral Chapel in Ft Collins. A private interment service will be held at Resthaven Memorial Gardens Cemetery at a later date. David's family wants to thank all of the staff at Sierra Vista for the wonderful care you gave him. His many friends took good care of him for us and made his last days as peaceful as possible. They also want to thank Front Range Hospice for all the help they provided to David over the last few months.