Terence Fred Danton

Terry Danton lived the last half of his 72 years in Estes Park, Colorado, and never regretted it. But his earlier years were spent in a completely different environment, Miami, Florida. Terry was born November 20, 1942, to Thomas W. and Elizabeth Jane Danton. Terry grew up in a hot, tropical climate with frequent thunder storms, hail storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, high humidity, sea level altitude, flat terrain, and just about every poisonous snake known to North America. In school Terry was an accomplished swimmer, diver, and runner, but most kids in south Florida were. He greatly enjoyed fishing, skin diving, and boating. At 16, he earned a flying license, and would soon own his own J-3 Cub, two-seater plane that had to be hand propped to get it started. This antique airplane was truly one of his greatest joys for many years. Terry enlisted in the Army as a communications specialist and spent several years stationed in Germany where he nearly died of hepatitis. He taught himself the guitar and enjoyed country music, both hearing and performing it. Back in the states at only 20 years of age, he took two years of college to earn his license as an Airframe and Engine Mechanic on many different types of small aircraft and helicopters. For the next 40 years, Terry would sometimes work for flying schools as their mechanic and problem-solver, or in his spare time, he participated in building the first Pitz Special stunt plane that won several international awards for acrobatics. He also made his services available to other pilots who hired him to do special work on their planes. Another fulltime job for many years was working as an engineer keeping the water pumps going at the Miami-Dade County Water Plant. Besides flying, another major activity was raising quarter horses and goats. For many decades he worked out daily with weights and exercise machines which kept his body very trim. Terry didn’t date a lot; it seems there was little time in his schedule for dating. He was getting very serious about one attractive young lady but she unexpectedly died in her early 20’s of diverticulitis. One of Terry’s biggest idols was the country western movie star and singer Roy Rogers. He probably acquired all of Roy’s recording and most of his 75 movies, and these recordings got constant playing in his car stereo right to the end of his life. On several occasions he planned to attend events where he hoped to meet Roy and Roy’s wife Dale Evans, but at the last minute something always upset his plans. This was one key item on his Bucket List that was never realized and it saddened him. Terry’s brother, Tom, became a close friend of another western movie star and singer, Rex Allen. Rex, in his late 70’s, was retired from performing in concerts, but loved making public appearances for Saguaro National Park, to raise money for various research projects. Terry greatly admired and enjoyed Rex’s mellow singing voice and yodeling skills, and was very eager to meet him. Tom set up a meeting but just weeks before Terry’s arrival inTucson where Tom and Rex lived, Rex dropped dead of a heart attack. Terry was a big, big fan of western music, and did get to see many other western singing groups perform. In Estes Park Terry developed a close friendship with Vic Anderson, a popular western music singer, and assisted him with his shows. Terry experienced numerous UFO encounters. Beginning at age 6, he was taken into space ships two or three times every year until he was 65. He could describe the aliens, the ship, and some of the strange experiments they did with him, and this all began before UFO’s were a popular subject. He rarely spoke of these happenings to anyone unless he knew they were sincere believers. Terry’s only brother, Tom, got Terry to visit him in Rocky Mountain National Park in the early 1970’s. This is where his love of the Rockies and Estes Park began to grow. By 1982, he had sold his horses and quit his various jobs in Miami, and permanently moved to Estes Park. His life changed forever now. For the next 25 years he worked on the maintenance road crew in RMNP, and particularly thrilled over the two months he spent each year clearing Trail Ridge Road for the Memorial Day road opening. He really liked road work and clearing snow. When Terry was about 55, his cardiologist detected a viral infection in his heart. This rare disease cannot be cured and is terminal as the heart and its patient grow weaker and weaker over several years. Terry continued to work in the Park for ten more years but his increasing weakness was becoming obvious, so he retired in 2008. He continued to travel to Branson, MO a couple times each year to enjoy the wonderful shows there. He also loved Walt Disney World and visited there every year. UFO conventions and air shows were always on his agenda, and he was encouraged to pursue his interest to whatever level his heart would tolerate. He knew when he was overdoing things; he would feel it. In 2011 a pacemaker/defibrillator was installed in his chest to revive or help the heart, but the weakening continued. Finally on April 21, 2015 Terry passed away to join his parents, many friends, and his Lord and Savior in heaven. His only surviving relatives are his younger brother Tom, his sister-in-law Vickie, Terry’s nephew and niece David and Katie, and three great nephews and two great nieces. Funeral services will include a Rosary with an open casket at Allnutt Funeral Chapel at 7 o’clock in the evening on April 30, 2015, during at which there will be time to reflect our lives with him. A Catholic Funeral Mass will be celebrated by Father Joseph Hartmann at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church at 10:30 o’clock in the morning on May 1, 2015. The Mass will be followed by a luncheon at the Church and a drive to the cemetery for graveside services. All are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Victoria Escarcega Medical Fund, in care of Allnut funeral homes, or go enjoy a cup of coffee at Coffee on the Rocks in memory of him, at one of his favorite stomping grounds.