David Howard Mitchell

David Howard “Mitch” Mitchell felt he was born under a wandrin’ star. His journey ended March 8, 2025, and now he is free to go where he pleases. He was born to Howard and Lois (Reeves Lambrix) Mitchell on 11/12/1955 in Toledo, Ohio. At birth he looked as though he had been out on the range and his mother questioned whether she had been given the right boy. All his life he loved being outdoors and spent his youth riding bikes, fishing, hunting, playing hockey, running around and enjoying boyhood mischief with his lifelong best friend Dave Delong. He attended Catholic grade school much to the nuns' aggrievance though there were a few that loved just the same. He loved visiting his grandpa’s cabin on Houghton Lake, watching Paint Your Wagon- even building his own wagon- and riding pillow sleds down the stairs with his little sister Mary. He cut an air hole in the side of the garage for his fort in the rafters, blew up plants, and cleaned lots of fish. His love of running took off in high school where he made all-city in cross country, ran a 4:16 mile and helped the girls start their own track team. He had some very good friends, boys and girls, and was thankful for the rest of his life for knowing them. He met some of his best friends during this time. He managed to talk 4 of them into going on what became a coming-of-age story in Cumberland Gap, Virginia. He worked in the family business at M&M Plating with his grandfather, father and older brother Gary and there he learned skills he used throughout his life. During this time, he began riding motocross and excelled. He loved those vintage bikes! He always had a great mix of friends and musical tastes growing up so close to Motown. After some college he headed out west to southern California where his older sister Pamala lived and got a job at Universal Studios. He moved to Tughuna and loved living in the high desert and caring for the horses. Most of them survived the flood. He traveled back home through the pacific northwest and fell in love with the mountains. While whitewater rafting in West Virginia he met Elaine Steele. They lived in Ohio before moving to Houghton Lake, marrying and buying a house there. He worked at an apple orchard, as a finish carpenter and trapped in the winter. After starting their family with a daughter, they moved to their farm in Merritt where their son was born. Dave became the county building inspector, rode saddle broncs in rodeos until Yellowfeather put a stomp to that, helped to start the Twilight speed series, built an addition on the barn to house the bulk tank for the goat dairy, hauled the family to horse shows, played hockey, cross country skied, introduced family to skijoring, tried snowboarding, worked with Michigan D&R, continued to hunt and trap, began to learn the art of saddlery and leatherworking and volunteered with the local fire department. He loved getting together with family for reunions at Houghton Lake and over the holidays. They were always wild and fun times! In 1993 the family moved to Harrison, ID to manage Hidden Creek Dude Ranch. After leaving the ranch, he found his love of packing, the upper Joe and his Jody. Some of his fondest memories are of cowboying in southern Idaho and northern Nevada, the Owyhee country, high desert, horse sales and the old ranches and mountains of eastern Oregon and Montana. He loved the old ranches, the old ways, the music, poetry and simplicity. Mexican and Basque foods were some of his favorites. His interests and passions connected him with a wealth of people all over the world and he was a people person! Over the last years he reconnected with many of his grade school friends. Some of his closest through the years were Dave Delong, Mike Gembreska, Bill Rabideau, Mike O’Rourke, Keith Thompson, Mike Ross, Joyce, Janet, Jim Lee, Larry of the boot shop, Ed & Dani, Henry, Marty Maddalena, Coleman & the Donohoe family, the Gentry’s, the Layton’s & Christensen’s, Taylor & family, Pat, Meral & Denise, Kerry & Mary, Kyler & family, Greg, Jim & Robin, and enough friends to take up an entire page . He was a craftsman always learning and perfecting his craft. He built a beautiful home and made some of the most comfortable and well-made saddles along with bridals, chaps & chinks, holsters and sandals. He was a naturalist at heart and made his own tinctures and tonics from local plants and herbs. He played music and wrote poetry with his last written words speaking of a feeling of peace. He is survived by his aunt Judy Lambrix, sister and brother-in-law Pamala and Daniel Giagni; his sister and brother-in-law Mary & Mike Straight; sister-in-law Isabelle Mitchell; daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter Emily, Dan and Annabelle Parrish, and his son and granddaughter Travis and Charlee Mitchell; along with his cousins, nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, brother Gary Mitchell and other beloved family members. May your bedroll always be dry and warm, your beer cold and plentiful, your Copenhagen fresh, with good, hearty food over a crackling fire beside a gold speckled stream, the love of an amazing woman, a string of solid broncs, and a large herd of cows to push through the thereafter of your dreams.

 All our love. Vaya con Dios Dad.