David R Lais

David R. Lais, 87 of New London, died Thursday, December 18, 2025 at the U of M Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis. Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 10, 2026 at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in Spicer. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held for two hours prior to the service at the church with a Knights of Columbus Rosary at 9:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred and will be given to the organizations Dave holds dear. Arrangements are with the Johnson Funeral Home in New London.

David Roger Lais was born on December 6, 1938, in Adrian to Charles and Eleanor (Hebbelman) Lais. He graduated from Adrian High School with the class of 1957. A little later, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1959, was trained as a dental assistant, and served his country in Munich, Germany, and Dugway, Utah. In 1962, he received his honorable discharge and returned home.

He quickly enrolled in a Fish, Wildlife & Parks Conservation School and, in the spring of 1963, went to work at Fort Ridgely State Park as a park ranger. In the spring of 1965, he attended a Park Manager Trainee School at Fort Snelling State Park, put on by the National Park Service and the Minnesota Conservation Department. That summer, Dave received his first park manager position at Buffalo River State Park near Glyndon, Minnesota.

On August 14, 1965, Dave was united in marriage to Ardys Duenow at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Fairfax, Minnesota. This union was blessed with son, Daniel, and daughter, Sarah. The family made their home at the state park near Glyndon for five years before moving to Whitewater State Park east of Rochester, in 1970. He was park manager there for two years before receiving his dream assignment at Sibley State Park near New London, where he spent the next 29 years as park manager, retiring in 2001.

As a kid, Dave dreamed of living by a lake. For years, his fish house was one of the first to appear on Lake Andrew. Fishing with his two children was a weekly winter venture. He was very active with the Sibley State Park Improvement Association, serving as a board member for 50 years and also holding the positions of secretary and treasurer. He worked hard over the years growing and developing the park as we know it today. In 2016, Dave received the Reuel Harmon Award in recognition of exemplary service on behalf of Minnesota's State Parks & Trails, presented by the Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota.

Dave was active in conservation most of his life. Since retirement, he had been busily restoring a drained wetland and adding plant diversity to an adjoining prairie. He was a long-standing member of the New London Chapter of the Izaak Walton League and received a 40-year award for teaching firearm safety. He was also a member of Pheasants Forever and a local chapter of the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, always helping with Prairie Pothole Day in the fall. Pheasant hunting with family and friends at the Lais farm was never missed.

His grandchildren were a source of great joy. They loved the ranger rides and driving the trails at the Lais place. Jordyn and Katelyn each shot their first deer at Grandpa's place in the woods.

Dave enjoyed gardening, bird watching, fishing and hunting with his children and granddaughters, playing baseball in his younger years, and watching the Willmar Stingers in recent years.

Dave was a member of Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church, where he was a member and officer of the Knights of Columbus and a fourth-degree Knight. He served as a lector and Eucharistic minister at church, Glen Oaks, and for the homebound. He also assisted with grounds maintenance and mowing. Dave was a long-standing member of American Legion Post #537 in New London, Minnesota.

David is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Ardys; children, Daniel (Mandy) Lais of St. Cloud and Sarah (Chris) Scribner of Monticello; and grandchildren, Mitchell, Blake, Jordyn, and Katelyn. Dave is also survived by his siblings, Tom (Celia) Lais of Chandler and Jean (Dean) Peterson of Garretson, South Dakota; and his brother-in-law, Mark Grindy of Brooklyn Park. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Jim (Norma) Lais; his sister, Sheryl Grindy; father-in-law, William Duenow; and mother-in-law, Inez Duenow.