Florent "Butch" Chester David

Florent Chester “Butch” David was born October 28, 1942 to the late George Byron and Damasie (Maes) David. He passed away on Thursday, November 22, 2018, quickly in his second home in Hernando, Florida after a day riding his beloved Harley.

Butch grew up in West Branch and graduated from the West Branch School. He served in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. Prior to his service in the armed forces and after he returned home, Butch taught ski lessons at the Ogemaw Hills Ski slopes. His passion for skiing, began at age 4, on the hills at his parents’ farm, that eventually took him out west to the Breckenridge, Colorado Ski Resort. Butch started out teaching ski lessons and then went on to installing and maintaining the ski lifts as Breckenridge began to grow. He became Head of Maintenance and often traveled to other countries when his expertise was needed. In his “down time” Butch liked helping out on a ranch nearby, with the spring and fall cattle round ups, brandings, fence fixing, and riding horses.

Butch loved helping others, building, fixing, and repairing many things. If he heard you talking about a project, he would offer his expertise and would be making plans on how to get the project done within the next day or two. He was very gifted, working with wood, metal, jewelry and a multitude of other materials.

Butch enjoyed riding motorcycles, (BSA, Triumph, Harley Davidson), coffee at Fuzzy Gildners’ at 9:00 a.m. every day, and Native American Heritage. Butch was an avid hunter, collector and he treasured helping others.

Butch is survived by his sister, Margie Davis. niece Tracey Davis, great niece Annissa Replogle, great nephew Blake Replogle, niece Tara Davis, great nephew Simon Rice, nephew Todd Davis, Aunt Janice Illig, many cousins, friends and good friends Fuzzy (Kenny)Gildner, Margie Campbell and Wendi (Jeff) Richardson. He was preceded in death by both his parents and brother in his heart, Curt Davis.

A memorial will be held in honor of Butch’s life in the summer of 2019.