Danny Warner Van Keuren

A celebration of Danny Warner Van Keuren's life will take place at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 11 at the Van Keuren residence in Cortez. Danny was born April 7, 1942 in Duluth, MN. the son of Warner and Bette. He passed away November 28th, 2016 with family by his side in Cortez CO, after a prolonged battle with cancer. Danny spent the early part of his youth along the banks of the Mackenzie River in Oregon with his mother and grandparents. He spent the latter part of his young days exploring and attending school in and around the Navajo reservation in Arizona. After leaving home at a young age to travel across the country, he returned and enlisted in the Army at 17. After boot camp, he was stationed in Germany and finished out his service there. Following his Army service, he went home to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona to work for his father Warner and learn the trading post business. During this time he met a young, beautiful Navajo barrel racer, Judy Isaac at a local rodeo. After a lengthy three- and-a-half month long courtship they were married in Las Vegas, NV on November 9, 1964. The couple recently celebrated 52 blissful years of marriage. Danny had a work ethic second to none and with Judy and family by his side as well as the support of communities, he managed to build successful businesses on and off of the Navajo reservation. When he wasn't working, he enjoyed traveling and adventure. His adventurous spirit led him to gold mining expeditions, flying airplanes and off-road desert racing. He also enjoyed camping, fishing, boating and riding motorcycles with his family. Danny had a kind, inclusive spirit and penchant for helping those down on their luck. Danny also had a soft-spot for dogs and was often in the company of a four legged companion, most recently Happy, a lab mix. Danny settled in Cortez Colorado and enjoyed being a farmer, rancher and grandfather. Gems that he would share included: "you cannot keep what you don't give away; love is all there is; there's no reason to be happy, so be happy for no reason." Special thanks to the many loving and kind family, friends and community members who helped Danny and his family feel at home in Cortez and who supported Danny in facing cancer. Special gratitude also goes to the compassionate and wonderful folks and volunteers of Hospice of Montezuma--especially Nurse Enid, Nurse Angela, Bud and Sunny; the caring people at Ertel for their invaluable service; the compassionate people of the Medicine Man; the many kind-hearted customers and employees on the Navajo Reservation who made Danny's hard work meaningful; and finally, to Horatio T.T.B. at HP Security and Surveillance Systems. Memorial contributions may be made in Danny VanKeuren's name to Hospice of Montezuma P.O. Box 740 Cortez, Colo. 81321.