Danny Michael Chard, 82, was found deceased on April 28, 2026, having suffered a heart attack in Twin Lakes, Colorado.
Dan and Valinda were longtime residents of Colorado before moving to Alamogordo, New Mexico. He loved the doctors and staff of the Rocky Mountain Regional Department of Veterans Affairs in Aurora, Colorado, so much that he drove eight hours one-way from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Aurora, Colorado for his medical appointments. Dan and Valinda were longtime residents of Colorado before moving to Alamogordo, New Mexico.
♪ Named after a Song
Born August 4, 1943, in Seattle, Washington, and raised in Bremerton, he was the son of the late Alvin Walter Chard and Eloise Julia Hall. He was named after the song "Danny Boy".
🌲 Early Years
His family moved to San Diego, California in September 1944 when his dad joined the US Navy. When Danny was five, they moved to Larsen Valley (now called Apple Valley) in Camino, El Dorado, California.
After the Navy tour, Oct 1945, they moved to the rural area near Placerville, California, called Larsen Valley, now known as Apple Valley, on Chute Camp Road to raise a family in the country. There was no time to build a house since winter was coming, they lived in a military maintenance tent that was later made into a house.
Dan's first job was helping in an orchard at age seven. The same year, Dan started school in a one-room schoolhouse, but two weeks later the school was moved to a larger building with classrooms. Two years later a traveling eye doctor discovered that Dan was born with serious visual impairment (considered to be legally blind). The Shriners paid for Dan to have three eye surgeries to correct his vision.
Dan said his dad took him and his sister, Carol Kinsey Chard, to go roller skating at Timbereno Hall in Camino, California. Dan loved roller skating! His maternal grandmother, Charlotte "Lottie" (nee Matthews), taught him how to dance the Charleston when he was about nine years old. His dad played the mandolin and the family danced. Dan would walk home from school with his sister Carol. She was a Girl Scout, and Dan would attend meetings with her; he had no place else he could go. He eventually earned his Girl Scout pin. At that point he quit as he was old enough to walk home by himself.
🪖 Service & Love
Dan attended El Dorado High School for the ninth and tenth grades. He completed a semester on the job training program at Junker's Appliances where he repaired sewing and washing machines. In 1961, Dan moved to take the opportunity for a year internship as a machinist at Lake Tahoe Valley Machine Works. This was during the Vietnam era. The owner wanted to train a young man to take over his business so he could retire but was paranoid that during the training Dan would be drafted and all would be for nothing. To relieve the owner's paranoia, Dan went to join the US Army with the notion that he would not pass the physical and receive a 4F medically unqualified and return to the machine shop. To Dan's surprise, they told him to get in line to finish the process of enlisting. Dan was assigned as a wheel and track mechanic. However, at Fort Hood they assigned Dan as a tank crewman. Finally, he got assigned to the motor pool to fix the tanks.
Dan was in the Army during Operation Desert Strike and afterward he visited his sister, Carol and her family in Sacramento, California. There he met Valinda Turnbough who was babysitting Carol's girls. Dan asked Valinda out. Dan returned to Fort Hood. Later Dan was part of Operation Big Lift in Ramstein, Germany which was the largest and fastest long-distance troop movement ever attempted at the time. Dan was honorably discharged on 15 Feb 1965. Dan moved to the Sacramento area and began working for a logging job in which he piloted outboard motorboats up and down the Sacramento River to pull out the logs in the way. Dan continued to date Valinda, in her senior year of high school, and soon asked her to marry him. They married on Oct 10, 1965, in Reno, Nevada. One of their favorite early memories was roller skating together at the Happy Hollow rink a skating rink operated by Dan's sister Carol.
⚙️ Master Mechanic & Inventor
Dan was an industrious and dedicated worker. His main occupation over the years was a heavy equipment mechanic. He worked numerous jobs such as lead mechanic, truck driver, horizontal directional boring, and many others. He worked for the Michigan California Lumber company, sawmills, hauled trailers of logs, then he worked for several trucking companies. He even went to Body and Fender school and took a welding class.
In 1972, Dan and Valinda moved to Brighton, Colorado. He worked several jobs and even painted trucks. In 1977, Dan and Valinda worked for John Reinholdt for almost 30 years. They took a short break in the 1990s when Dan worked at Fort Bliss as a Heavy Mobile Equipment Mechanic. He worked on the M1A1 tanks and other military vehicles brought back from the first Gulf War. Additionally, in 1997, he and Valinda started a limousine business called “Attencion To Detail.” He and Valinda operated D&V Diversified Ventures LLC in which they used teamwork to provide directional boring services. They specialized in difficult bores like under rivers and roads.
Dan liked to build, modify, fix things and be challenged to make things work. He had the ability to fix anything that was broken; if he didn’t have the right tool, he created it. Dan was an inventor extraordinaire. He could fix anything and solve mechanical problems. Dan designed, engineered, and built a trailer that was used to move modular homes. He modified the tractor's mirrors to run on a track enabling them to extend to 21 ft wide. The trailer had "training wheels" that expanded to 15 ft wide to establish a base that provided stability, especially in the wind. His special trailer was allowed on roads with wind restrictions due to its unique design. He had the help of an expert welder to complete the trailer. He designed and built tire stands which allowed the tire to rotate for ease of repair. The tires could exceed six feet in diameter, and they were used for mining equipment.
Could fix anything — if he didn’t have the right tool, he invented it.
Built a specialized modular home trailer with extendable mirrors and stabilizing “training wheels” that allowed travel under wind restrictions.
Dan was a heavy equipment operator, tractor-trailer driver, and an excellent mechanic. He had the ability to visualize a finished project and build it. He designed and built tire stands which allowed the tire to rotate for ease of repair. The tires could exceed six feet in diameter, and they were used for mining equipment.
🛼️ A Life Well Lived
Dan loved roller skating and especially skating waltzes with his beloved wife, Valinda. He liked people, he analyzed everything and was very persistent. Dan had a positive outlook on life and loved to tell the stories of his life. His favorite color was lavender and favorite number was nine. He loved the taste of New Mexico green chili and anything to do with trains.
Forever in our hearts.
He is remembered with love by
Son: Michael Chard (Nancy) of Eldersburg, Maryland
Granddaughter: Michelle Vargo (Matthew) of Brooklyn Park, Maryland
Grandson: Zachary Orndorff of Columbia, Maryland
Granddaughter: Sarah Chard of Brooklyn Park, Maryland
Granddaughter-in-law: Lexi Chard of Cambridge, Maryland
Great-grandchildren: Connor and Jamie Chard of Eldersburg, Maryland and Rin Vargo of Brooklyn Park, Maryland
Brother: Tim Chard (Debbie) of Grass Valley, California
Half-sister: Yvonne Robinson (Ted) of Seattle, Washington
and many nieces and a nephew; Exceptional friends are DeAnna Schaefer of Palmer, Alaska, Lee Dimmick of Goodland, Kansas, Sam Webb of Denver, Colorado, Beverly Schmidt of Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Ken and Donna Kinghorn and family of Alamogordo, New Mexico.
⛪ Celebration of Life
Celebration of Dan’s life will be at Christ Community Church
2960 N Scenic Dr, Alamogordo, NM 88310
May 19, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Live stream and other videos of Dan's life to be added to our YouTube channel.
See all memorial links below.
(YouTube) Veterans Legacy
Memorial Kramer Funeral & Cremation
Obituary Alamogordo News
Obituary Denver Post
Obituary
Interment at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso, Texas