David Emery Larson, 73, died peacefully at his home along the Missouri River south of Washburn during the morning hours of September 8. A celebration of Dave’s life will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 10:30 at the First Lutheran Church in Washburn ND.

Dave was born April 11, 1953, in Devils Lake, North Dakota to Merle and Ardeth (Smoke) Larson. The family moved to Washburn in 1954, and Dave had the good fortune of growing up in a small town where the streets were safe. In his grade school years, he and brother Doug often rode their bikes 3 miles to Turtle Creek and spent the day exploring and catching bullheads. One year he won a fishing derby at Painted Woods Creek by catching a turtle.

Dave graduated from Washburn High School in 1971. Known by the nickname “Em” during his high school years, he was especially passionate about football and never shied away from a challenge on the field. He also participated in band as a trumpet player. Outside of school, he often assisted at the grain elevator owned and operated by his father Merle, hauling grain and preparing boxcars for shipping grain. It was also in these years where he began his lifelong pursuits of hunting, fishing and trapping.

After graduating from high school, Dave attended the Wahpeton State School of Science, where he earned a certificate in the sheet metal / HVAC trade. Thus began his forty-plus-year career working sheet metal/HVAC and skylight-installation jobs through union affiliations. He started out in the Bismarck - Washburn area, including at the Coal Creek power station. He then started his work installing skylights, which saw him working on projects from Maine to New York City to South Carolina to Chicago to Las Vegas to California to Hawaii, with many stops in between.

During his sky light career, he got a “well done” handshake from Donald Trump in Atlantic City, built the massive skylight system over the Circus Circus Casino in Las Vegas, and had 3 working trips to Hawaii. October 1989 found him working in the San Francisco Bay area during the Loma Prieta earthquake. He vividly described watching his pick-up truck slide sideways across a motel parking lot. When he had some time off, he would usually be fishing on the ocean in a charter boat or on an area lake.

In his last 12 working years, he lived and worked in Las Vegas on various casino projects, including the Venetian Casino and the CityCenter complex. It was here where he earned a certificate allowing him to handle the endangered desert tortoise if one was found on his construction site.

Dave was a dedicated and loyal worker. On several occasions in his younger days, he drove straight through from his home in Washburn to places like Manhattan or Atlantic City to meet the semi and the crane as scheduled, to start his projects on time. Throughout all his travels, his home was always Washburn and his place on the river. That was his refuge. He made it back when work was slow or when he had a break. He loved the river, the quietness, the wildlife, and time spent with his friends. He retired in 2011 and lived there until his passing.

Dave was fiercely independent and lived life on his terms. He was pro-union, smoked Marlboro cigarettes, and drove Ford F-150 pick-up trucks. He was also extremely generous--one of those people who would give you the shirt off his back.

Those who will deeply miss him in this life include his three brothers, Douglas (Jane), Dwight (Heather), and Drew; nieces Clara and Rosemary; nephews Wilfredo, JP, and Leo; and many cousins, as well many friends he had made through the years and all over the country. He was preceded in death by his parents, Merle (1988) and Ardeth (2007).