Dave Lehr
May 8, 1971 - January 23, 2025
David Bryan Lehr was born on May 8, 1971. Dave grew up in St. Johnsville, New York on his family's Dairy Farm. The Youker family farmed the area since the 1700s and the original deed for the land was made with the Mohawk Tribe. Dave could see Grandma and Grandpa George’s farmhouse, barn and cows easily from the porch of the Lehr home. As a toddler, Dave was the constant companion of Grandpa George. Dave would spend the days with Grandpa George riding on the tractor with him. Being an only child, Dave was his father’s son and his mother’s daughter … having a close relationship with both parents. Dave and Gary fished, hiked and camped together. Dave’s mother Joan was the local 4-H Leader where Dave learned to cook, sew and macramé. Growing up, Dave lived so close to Grandma and his Aunt Janet, he would go up to the farmhouse every day. Aunt Janet encouraged Dave’s love of reading and learning, always bringing him books to read. Grandma and Aunt Janet took Dave to many places like Washington DC and Philadelphia. Dave worked on the farm in the summers milking cows, teething hay, collecting and lifting 100-pound bales of hay establishing his strong work ethic. Growing up on the Youker Dairy Farm, Dave developed his love of milk. Dave was a customer of Royal Crest Dairy of Denver for 23 years.
Dave shared a love of gardening with his mother Joan and yearly helped Joan turn/plant her garden after she moved to Colorado. Despite having a patio home in Denver, Dave developed his own flowers, herbs and fruit trees in limited space. Dave made pesto from his basil crop, had a serious vermiculture production as well as making the best apple sauce and peach chutney from the surprisingly productive trees he planted. Dave’s flowerpots were so beautiful. Dave loved reading or napping on the back porch amongst his flowers, herbs and fruit trees with his pups.
Dave attended Dolgeville Central High School graduating as Salutatorian in 1989. Dave was a high school athlete participating in football, baseball and wrestling. Dave also got into skiing, taking day trips with his friends to the icy east coast ski slopes. A Renaissance Man in the making, Dave playing the sousaphone in the marching band.
Dave attended Colgate University majoring in Economics. Dave pledged Phi Delta Theta at Colgate and often related disturbingly frightening stories about Frat shenanigans. Dave became the Social Director of his Fraternity Senior year, organizing all the Frat parties.
After college, Dave started his career with Amica as an underwriter … a match for his expertise in risk management. Dave moved about as he progressed up the ladder, being quickly promoted within Amica. In Atlanta, Dave met his lifelong friend and work mentor Rob. Eventually Dave came to Colorado as the Regional Branch Manager of Amica Western States.
In Colorado, Dave met Cyndi in 2001. The couple’s meet/cute story involved a fun ski day at Keystone Resort. This was the start of a life filled with love and adventure. Dave and Cyndi were married in 2003.
Dave was a Lifelong Learner and a truly fascinating man. We all benefited from Dave’s deep dives into learning about wine, cocktails, bread baking, board games, all types of music like country/jazz/classical and he learned to cook many different cuisines to include Indian, Thai and Low Country dishes.
History and travel were his true passions. Dave would read about a place, plan a trip and then learn all about the location. Dave and Cyndi traveled to France, Italy, Germany, London, Spain, Vienna and Hungary. Dave and his mother Joan took a yearly trip to explore national parks, monuments, baseball fields and historic battle sites. Dave and his father Gary would take father-son adventures kayaking and mountain biking. Dave planned vacations with his in-laws, Norm and Del to include New Orleans, Nashville and Santa Fe.
Dave and Cyndi enjoyed being part of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence Retire Early.) Dave thrived in early retirement at age 44 with the motto “Frugal-Not Cheap.” In retirement Dave explored fitness and learning. Dave excelled at Soccer, Pickleball, Trail Running, Road Biking, Cross-Country Skiing and Mountaineering. Dave volunteered as an inspirational leader with the Colorado Mountain Club. Using his expertise in mapping and route planning, Dave introduced many scrambling routes that are still used in Colorado Mountain Club courses today. Dave and Cyndi made so many lifelong friends through their pursuits of climbing the Colorado Peaks. Dave’s favorite sport was Mountain Biking. Dave excelled to where he completed the Leadville Silver Rush 50 Mountain Bike Race … fifty miles mountain biking with over 8,000 feet of elevation gain starting at 10,000 feet elevation with technical climbs and high-speed descents into 12000 feet of elevation in July 2022.
Dave learned that he had terminal, stage IV nonsmoking lung cancer in August of 2022. Dave’s response to this shocking news was: “I only want to have good days.” Dave continued on … working out, biking, traveling, reading/learning, cooking, and delving into complicated board games.
Dave and Cyndi were so grateful for all they received … 23 loving years … so fortunate to achieve early retirement so they could pursue any treatment, plan travel and be together as constant companions. We were most grateful for the love and support we received from friends and family. All the calls, texts, visits and invitations lit Dave up and helped feed our hope. Special shout out to our out-of-town visitors: our wonderful sister Catherine, Dave’s BFF Jorge from Argentina, Beth who brought us together and Rob, his mentor and friend. Dave felt loved. Sadly and peacefully, Dave died at home on January 23rd, 2025, with his love Cyndi and their pups Barkley and Brindle by his side. Thank you to friends and family who stood by us during this journey. We are so grateful for all the love and friendship.
Donations
We are so grateful for all the kind and expert care we received from UCHealth (Dr. Erin Schenk), University of Michigan (Dr. Angel Qin) and State University of Ohio (Dr. Regan Memmott.)
Family requests no cards or flowers and to consider donating HERE to support the important research of Dr. Angel Qin.
Celebrations of Life for Dave
•San Francisco with CA Family: 3/24/25
•New Orleans-Dave’s Happy Place: 5/23/25
•Denver: TBD-Contact Family