David Bromwell Ault

David Bromwell Ault

August 19, 1957 – December 27, 2025

David Bromwell Ault, 68, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed away unexpectedly on December 27, 2025. He was born on August 19, 1957, on Long Island, New York, to parents J. Burchenal and Joan Mitchell Ault. He moved with his family to Santa Fe in 1971 when his father became the Provost at St. John's College. David then grew up breaking horses and driving cattle at a working ranch his parents purchased in Ojo Caliente. David remained in New Mexico for the rest of his life — more than fifty years — and considered it his home in every meaningful sense.

David attended Phillips Academy Andover as a teenager before graduating from Santa Fe Preparatory School in 1975. He went on to earn a B.S. in Animal Science with a minor in Business Administration from New Mexico State University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of New Mexico. A semester spent abroad in Ecuador prior to university proved formative, and it was that experience that pointed him toward an education in business and ranching.

David spent much of his twenties working as a ranch hand in southern New Mexico, a period that shaped both his character and his lifelong relationship with horses, cattle, and open land. He married three times. He had children — Monica from his first marriage, then Sam, in his second. He went on to build a career in public service, working for the Department of Taxation and Revenue and later for the Public Regulation Commission, from which he retired in July 2021 as a Public Utilities Economist.

David was a lifelong horseman. He first rode at the age of six on a Connemara pony named Goliath, who traveled with the family from Long Island to Ojo Caliente, and lived for approximately thirty years. David passed on his love of horses and the outdoors to his children. He taught his daughter, Monica to ride at a young age and was an active participant in the Boy Scouts of America (“BSA”) alongside his son Sam. David continued serving as a BSA leader for nearly a decade after Sam moved on from the program. In his retirement years, he purchased several acres of grassland near Clayton, New Mexico, where he had begun planning to build a barn — the first step toward a new working ranch.

David is survived by his partner, Lissa Lucht, of Santa Fe and Clayton; his daughter, Monica Ault (partner Emma), of Santa Fe; his son, Sam Ault (wife Cassie), of Battle Mountain, Nevada; his grandchildren Wyatt, Wesley, Jaxon, and Delilah; his brothers Nick Ault and Andy Ault (wife Kitty) of Santa Fe; his sister Allie Regan (husband Bill) of Windsor, Colorado; as well as many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, J. Burchenal and Joan Mitchell Ault, and his eldest sister, Marney Wasserman.

A memorial service will be held on March 20, 2026, at 2:00 PM at Santa Fe Memorial Gardens, Rivera's Funeral Home, 417 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico. David will be interred near his mother, Joan Mitchell Ault.