David Dennis Dye

 

David Dye

I remember the day when I had no idea who David Dye was and tonight I mourn the death of a brother and friend.  Let me start from the beginning!

The Fourth of July 1995 was spent at Mom and Dad’s house.   Chip had driven down to Belle Fourche to take us to the Black Hills Roundup.  We were eating lunch when there was a knock at the door and Chip yelled out, “Come on in!”  That was not what I really thought should have happened.  That stocky young man opened the door and walked in.  Mom in her own way said, “Who are you?” and the reply was “An encyclopedia salesman.”  Well I knew that there were two old sets in the house already.  So Mom replied, “We don’t need any encyclopedias.”  That guy smiled and sat down in my grandma’s rocking chair, and as always Chip started talking to him.  Now I was getting a little frustrated with the situation until Chip made a comment that made me realize that this “salesman” must be Chip’s brother.  That was my introduction to David Dennis Dye.

Sometime later I was out helping Chip at the ranch when his entire family came out.  With the entire family helping a lot of brush and tree limbs were taken to the dump and the yard began to look very nice.  After mowing the lawn for a couple of hours, David brought me an ice cold glass of water and we sat on the grass and talked.  I watched as he shared his glass of tea with his two dachshunds. That was the day our friendship began.

In 1999 Chip and I were married.  David gave us his blessing and I appreciated knowing that he approved of his brother’s future wife.

After our marriage, David would call or come up to the ranch to visit.  I always appreciated his sense of humor, smile and laugh.  One day I called him and asked him to join the family for Thanksgiving at the ranch.  He asked what he should bring and I replied, “Bring your great personality!”  Hmmm!  He had added a little “buzz” to his personality before he arrived.   I informed him that it was his personality I wanted, not one that came from a bottle.  He laughed and the family had a great time.

David, Chip and I took a trip to Arizona to their nephew’s wedding. David liked to be in control and to be behind the steering wheel. That was fine. When we reached Colorado, he was ready  to let someone else drive. Unfortunately it was in the Rocky Mountain National park and although I had driven it years before, I froze up on that trip. I was driving 5 MPH and my knuckles were white. David said, “You are making me nervous!” I am sure the ten cars behind me were nervous too. It could have been a long trip up that mountain at 5 MPH. I pulled over and David drove again. I was sitting in the passenger seat but leaning over as far as I could to the middle of the seat. He said, “Dru, leaning over isn’t going to help.” I replied, “Oh, yes it is! I can’t see the bottom of valley.” It was a long trip! We had fun times and frustrating times, but we became better friends because of it.

Things started to change in David’s life and he started asking questions about God and the Bible.  Chip and he would have long discussions on the phone or at the ranch. One day he sat on the couch and Chip went through the Bible with him showing him God’s plan of salvation, but David didn’t understand it.  I asked him if he were to die right now, where he would go.  He didn’t hesitate as he pointed downward.  He knew that he was on his way to Hell, but he wouldn’t accept Christ as his Savior.

A lot happened after that day.  His aunt died and then his mother died.  He thought that his mother would last forever and so wasn’t there with her when she died.

It was about a year later that we received a call from David stating that he had accepted Christ as his Savior and that he wanted to be baptized.  The decision was to be baptized in the reservoir that almost took his life. 

Please read his testimony below.