David Humphrey Bard

1935 - 2021

David Humphrey Bard
Oklahoma City - David Humphrey Bard, whose storytelling and humor charmed so many and whose love of planes and flying was a lifelong passion, died May 29, under the care of Good Shepherd Hospice at Kingwood Skilled Nursing & Therapy in OKC. He was 85 years nine months old. David was born August 11, 1935, in Columbus OH, the first-born of Marianne (Bays) and Asher Humphrey Bard, both University of Oklahoma graduates. He was named after his grandfather, David Humphrey Bard (1848-1907), a former mayor of Westerville OH. His great-grandfather Samuel Spangler was a captain in the Union Army during the Civil War. After World War II David became an early member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in OKC. In 1950, at the age of 14, he was one of 47,163 Scouts at the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge PA, where he heard President Harry Truman up close as he made a speech five days after the Korean War began and days later General Dwight Eisenhower, then president of Columbia University. David graduated from Edmond (OK) High School in 1953, then served in the U.S. Army, mostly in Germany, during 1954-1956. In Germany he served as a radio operator with his Field Artillery unit. On July 1, 1960, he married the late Patricia Rae French, an honored music teacher at Blanchard (OK) High School. In 1963 he was elected as a Blanchard town trustee. In 1975 he obtained his private pilot license for single-engine airplanes. He flew with then Oklahoma's only woman stunt pilot, Kelly Pietrowicz, in his 70s. In 2010 he traveled to Germany with his brother, Richard, to revisit where he had been stationed in the U.S. Army 55 years before. He also visited France; Zurich, Switzerland; Salzburg, Austria; and Prague, Czech Republic. He underwent open-heart surgery in 2011 at the OKC VA Medical Center. David was a Linotype operator for The Daily Oklahoman at OPUBCO for 20 years. His other employment included sandwich routes in western Oklahoma and Kleen Products. He was preceded in death by his sister Martha Bard Meyer of Lakewood CO. Besides his brother, Richard A. Bard (Karen) of Miami FL, David is survived by his daughter Gina Bard Opheim (Landon) of Midland TX; grandson Eric Opheim (Deanna) of Leander TX; granddaughter Brooke Opheim Peters (Stephen) of Midland TX; great-granddaughters Natalie Peters and Thea Opheim; two nephews, John Meyer (Louise) of Hattiesburg MS, and Ryan Bard (Hoang) of Miami FL; two nieces, Karen Meyer Ferguson (Joe) of Broomfield CO and Marsha Bard Maldonado (Daniel) of Roswell GA; four grand-nephews, Matthew Meyer, Dylan Maldonado, Connor Bard, and Andrew Maldonado; one grand niece, Hailey Bard; his brother-in-law, Harvey J. Meyer of Lakewood CO, and many cousins. A visitation will be held June 28 from 12 PM to 8 PM at Advantage Funeral Service, 7720 S. Penn Ave., Oklahoma City OK 73159. Graveside services will be June 29 at 1 PM at Fort Sill National Cemetery, Elgin OK 73538