David "Dave" Alan Harris

David “Dave” Alan Harris, affectionately known as "Disco Dave," danced into this world on Mother’s Day, May 12, 1957, born to Doris (Talvi) Harris and Donald Harris. He passed away on July 19, 2025.

From the start, Dave lived life on his terms… fast, hard, fun, and full of fire. He was light-hearted but opinionated, fiercely loyal to those who had his heart, and unapologetically himself to the very end.

Dave lost his multi-year battle with cancer, fighting the disease with the same stubbornness that defined so much of his life. True to form, he swore his sister and niece to secrecy about the severity of his condition in his final days, insisting he be remembered not in his current condition, but in his "best days." His wish was simple and very Dave: “Have a party. Tell the people, ‘Guess what, I’m gone,’ for me.”

In his early years, Dave worked for his grandfather, Ed Talvi, who had a gravel business where he helped on the backhoe even so much as to assist in digging a few burial plots in the area around Belt, MT. Dave did a stint with Diamond Parking as his first "paycheck" job. But it was the wild nights at the Gold Rush in Great Falls where "Disco Dave" truly came alive, lighting up the dance floor and the lives of those lucky enough to know him in those memory-rich days.

His professional path took a turn when he moved to St. Ignatius to work for his former brother-in-law and friend, Ken Scott, at Scott Communications. There, Dave learned the ropes of global sales and customer service, building a reputation for honesty and the occasional colorful opinion. But family called him home in 2003, when his mother had her first bout with lung cancer. Dave stepped up, helping to run the family’s downtown business, His & Hers Coins & Cards, alongside his sister, Debbe. They poured their hearts into the shop, and through Dave’s passion project on eBay, they expanded their reach far beyond Great Falls. “The shop” closed in 2017, but its legacy endured as Dave and Bootsie, his feline friend, continued to reside there while friends visited and Debbe kept care of the place.

Dave was a fixture at the Black Eagle Community Center (BECC), where he worked, bowled, and held court with friends and strangers alike. Known for his signature drink, root beer and peppermint schnapps (a mix only Dave could love), he was always ready with a story, a joke, or a spirited debate. A man with a wild heart, Dave married more than once in search of someone who could match his intensity. He finally found that match in Jene Mesler Harris, his best friend and greatest love. They married in May of 2009 in Coeur d'Alene, ID. Her passing in 2017 broke Dave in a way nothing else could, and those closest to him know he never quite recovered.

Dave's proudest legacy, however, isn’t in work or wild stories, it's in the quiet love he carried for his daughter, Nicole Harris, and his granddaughter, Brooklynne Harris. Though distance marked much of their lives, Dave passed knowing they were special, carrying deep love for them in his own, complicated way; this distance was undoubtedly his biggest regret.

David was preceded in death by his father, Don (1999); his mother, Doris (2016); and his beloved wife, Jene Mesler Harris (2017). He is survived by his daughter, Nicole; his granddaughter, Brooklynne; his sister, Debbe; his niece, Darla (along with her husband, Adam, and their children, Izzy and Sawyer); and countless friends whom Dave would not have been himself without.

David Harris was a man of grit and contradictions, laughter and loss, boldness, and a hidden tenderness. He leaves behind a trail of stories, a handful of regrets, and a great many people who will never forget the way he moved through life, like a disco ball in a dive bar: bright, a little chaotic, and impossible to ignore.

In honor of Dave, the family invites you to try his favorite drink, just once. Then raise a glass to a life lived full-throttle, and to the man who, no matter what, always showed up as himself. We will celebrate his life on August 28, 2025, at the Do Bar, from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Rest easy, Disco Dave.