David Gordon Atfield

Lovingly Remembered

David Gordon Atfield was born to Edward & Etta (Dolly) Atfield on June 6th 1931. He passed away on February 5th 2025. David was one of seven siblings and was the last of them to take this journey. David was married to Jennie Lou “Jeanie” Tripp on March 21st 1953. She passed on September 26th 2001. They lived an adventurous life along with their 4 children, David Jr, Deborah, Daniel, their youngest Diana (predeceased in 2022).

David remarried and divorced, Donna Mcfeeters. We are sad to learn of her recent passing on December 3, 2024 as well. 

David was Upper Mohawk with his indigenous lineage going back to Tekonwatonti (Mary “Molly” Brant) of the Bear clan, who was his 5th great grandmother. David’s native soul was one with nature and had earned him the title of “Nature Boy”. He would often find himself in the wild taking beautiful photography of the eagles and chasing or being chased by grizzly bears. He’s love for birds showed in his passions, from feeding them by hand or snatching a red belly sap sucker out of the tree once. He was an amazing wild life painter that could capture the true beauty of the animal in his paintings. His last painting he was working on was of a polar bear, after the amazing memories he made on a trip with his daughter Deborah seeing them in Great West Territory. The board of the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation bestowed a lifetime honorary membership to David in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the foundation. 

David was a honorary retired 3M employee, (Ambassador of Good Will) after 34 years of service. David’s fighting spirit fought for the pension of all the UAW employees and he met some important people in his time from President Robert Kennedy to President of the brotherhood of teamsters Jimmy Hoffa. 

David will be missed by his 11 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. We hope that your spirit will visit us often in the form of an eagle.