Dudley Millard Obituary

Dudley Millard passed away with his son Ed by his side at the family home in Arriola Monday night, December 21. He was 96. He was born October 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed (as he loved pointing out). He is survived by his 3 children, John of Los Angeles, Janie of Seattle and Ed of Arriola. He was preceded in death by his wife LaVon and all his siblings, Nellie, Arthur, Mary Jane, Nathan, and Anna.

Dudley will be interred in the old Dolores cemetery on Monday, Dec. 29 at 11 AM next to his wife LaVon and the other Millard graves under the big spruce tree.

He grew up on the family ranch just upriver from Stoner. He graduated from Dolores High in 1946 and worked on the family ranch until he was drafted in 1951 and spent 2 years as a diesel generator operator/mechanic in Korea. When he returned in 1953, he married LaVon Hicks of Dolores, and they had their first son in 1954.

His great-grandfather was Louis Simon, who immigrated from Switzerland, and homesteaded near Road M and 29 in 1880. Simon Draw runs through the homestead and is named after him. He finished the homestead and owned the land in 1890. Louis and his wife Louisa, also from Switzerland, had 5 daughters, 4 of whom remained in the area. The ones that remained here are Dudley's grandmother Lydia Millard Barlow, Rachel Dickerson, Mary Taylor, and Elizabeth Hammond. They are all buried in the old Dolores cemetery. Their descendants are all over Montezuma County, including Millard, Hamilton, Ince, Dickerson, Taylor, Blackmer, Fleisher, Carlson, Royce, Reed, King, Hammond, Roelker, Gafford, and Garner.

Dudley designed, built, and operated lumber mills most of his life. Even though he had only a high school education, he was a gifted designer, builder, inventor, and electro-mechanical engineer. He built his first small sawmill on Summit Ridge around 1960. Then he built a much bigger mill on Road T near 145. That was lost to fire in 1967 and he rebuilt it. He sold it and moved to Duchesne, UT in 1970, building a smaller sawmill. He was there until 1979 working with his son John, when he shut it down and moved back to Cortez. He joined a partner with the sawmill on Road T, running it as Ponderosa Timber.

In 1979 at the age of 50 he bought 60 acres in Arriola to "retire" to. He built a barn and other farm buildings, and an irrigation system for the fields. He designed a house with his daughter Janie which they built in 1981. He farmed with LaVon, and then Ed, for the next 45 years, selling hay. He was driving the swather and other equipment to put up hay at the end of August at the age of 96.

While "retired" he designed and built another sawmill, Aspen Wall Wood, on Summit Ridge to make paneling. He ran a second aspen mill in Delta, CO. He sold his sawmills 30 years ago and focused on farming.

It was important for Dudley to give back to the things that were important to him, lumber manufacturing, water, his neighbors, the community, and his hay customers.

He was kind, generous, and very experienced in farming and the lumber industry. He worked incredibly hard his entire life. He was always helping neighbors and they helped him. He taught the newly arrived neighbors how to farm successfully.

He was passionate about water issues. He served on the board of the Montezuma Water Company in 1985-1988 when they built their own treatment plant for water from the Dolores Tunnel. He was a member of the Dolores Water Conservation District. He was on the board of Montezuma Valley Irrigation, 2003-2005 and President in 2005.

He was president of the Colorado Timber Industry Association in the 1990's, and worked hard to revive the declining timber production on the Western Slope. He lobbied politicians, and worked with the Forest Service, other industry groups, loggers, and lumber manufacturers. The CTIA started a Worker's Comp. plan for independent loggers and small operators. He and his wife LaVon managed that system for years. They worked hard to reduce accidents and get better rates. The CTIA still runs this today.

He served on the Montezuma County Planning Commission 1996-2000.

He achieved much in his life, gave a great deal back to the world, and will be missed.