David William Adams

1939 - 2025

David William Adams

1939 - 2025

St. George, UT - Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and friend, David W. Adams returned to heaven on February 3, 2025, in St. George, Utah. He passed away courageously while surrounded by his dear wife and children. He was born on February 14, 1939, in Batavia, New York to William H. and Genevieve Adams. His birthday being on Valentine's Day was very appropriate as anyone who knew Dave immediately felt loved by him. His life was truly a life spent loving his fellow man.

He spent his early years in beautiful upstate New York roaming the creeks and lakes with his dog, Sandy. When Dave was four years old, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visited his home and his parents were baptized into the church in 1943. This conversion would shape the rest of his life and he remained a faithful member of the church for his entire life. His testimony of his Savior was strong. He knew that he was a son of his Heavenly Father. When he prayed it was obvious that he had a personal relationship with his Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In 1947 his family decided to move to Utah. His father built a small travel trailer and they loaded up all their belongings and traveled across the country. They spent the summer of 1947 in Washington, Utah and Dave spent the hot southern Utah days swimming in the Boilers Pond. Dave fell in love with Southern Utah during this summer. Later that year they moved to Salt Lake City, then to Hunter, and then to Murray where Dave spent most of his childhood and teenage years and graduated from Murray High School where he also served as Student Body President.

At the age of 14, Dave would look out their window at the beautiful mountains. He had read about the ski resorts and decided he wanted to learn to ski. He found that Sears sold an entire ski outfit (clothes and equipment) for $41.00. He took a bus to the store one day and made the down payment of $10.00 and then mailed $5.00 per month to the store for six months until he could finally have his own ski equipment. That winter he rode the bus to Brighton Ski Resort where he learned to ski and it became a passion for his entire life. He loved to ski and later became a ski instructor at Sundance Resort while attending college. He was a wonderful teacher and taught his children and grandchildren to ski. Even into his later years, he was still a masterful and elegant skier and it appeared that he was floating on air as he skied down the mountain.

In 1956, Dave began attending Brigham Young University. He loved BYU with all his heart. He joined the Tau Sigma fraternity and met many friends there. Some of those fraternity friends had spent summers earning money for college working on the Santa Fe railroad in Needles, CA. Dave decided to give it a try and worked as a brakeman on the railroad for several summers. Dave loved to talk about his experiences while working on the Santa Fe and would do so any chance that he had.

Following graduation with a bachelor's degree from BYU, Dave's career took him to Branson, Missouri. While attending church one Sunday in Springfield he saw "the most beautiful and neat appearing blonde woman in Sunday School" whom he found out to be Bonnie Rone. He approached her and they soon began dating and soon fell in love. Their dating life included horseback rides along Table Rock Lake and dinners at Gino's Italian Restaurant. Dave and Bonnie were sealed for all eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple on June 3, 1966.

His career path took many turns during his life. He spent many years in the construction industry building apartment buildings, homes, churches, and restaurants. He was successful in all his business endeavors and always met every challenge head on and with vigor. If someone told him that something couldn't be done, then he would make sure to find a way to prove them wrong.

Dave served on the Utah Governor's Cabinet as the Head of Community and Economic Development from 1985 to 1990. He played a major role in Salt Lake City's successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. Dave and Bonnie moved permanently to St. George in 1995 where Dave continued in the construction business by developing affordable rental housing in Utah and Arizona.

Dave was a faithful member of the LDS church. He served in many callings and as Bishop of two different YSA wards. In 2007, Dave and Bonnie were called to serve a mission and were assigned to labor in the Honolulu, HI Mission. They spent 18 months serving at the Polynesian Cultural Center and their willingness to serve was a great example to their grandchildren. Dave also served as an ordinance worker in the St. George Temple for many years and loved the temple.

He loved his family and was truly the Patriarch of his family. We looked up to him and sought his advice daily. He was wise, honest, hard-working, and full of integrity. We are honored to be his legacy and will miss him greatly. We know that he had a testimony that families are forever and know that we will be with him again.

Dave is preceded in death by his parents William H. and Genevieve, brother Bill, brother Danny, baby sister Lisa, and granddaughter Haile. He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Bonnie; daughter Lisa Wagner (Greg), daughter Jenny Rhoton (Keith), daughter Stacy Durr (Paul), and son Jeff (Janna), brother Mark and sister Julia. He has a total of 17 loving grandchildren who all knew he loved them, and 8 great-grandchildren with another soon to arrive.

Our family wishes to thank all those who helped care for him over the last several years during those difficult times.

Funeral Services will be held Saturday, February 15, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. at the Boulder Ridge Stake Center, 1762 South River Road, St. George, Utah. Visitations will be held Friday evening from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Metcalf Mortuary, 288 West St. George Blvd. and on Saturday, prior to services, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Stake Center. Interment will be in Tonaquint Cemetery, 1777 South Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah.

Funeral services will also be live streamed. Please see a zoom link at www.metcalfmortuary.com.

Arrangements entrusted to the care of Metcalf Mortuary, (435) 673-4221. Please visit our website at www.metcalfmortuary.com for condolences.