David Humphrey Bard

David Humphrey Bard, age 85, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma passed away on Saturday, May 29, 2021. David was born August 11, 1935 in Columbus, Ohio. A visitation for David will be held Monday, June 28, 2021 from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Advantage Funeral & Cremation Service-South Chapel, 7720 South Pennsylvania Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73159. A graveside service will occur Tuesday, June 29, 2021 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Ft. Sill National Cemetery, 2648 NE Jake Dunn Rd, Elgin, OK 73538.

David Humphrey Bard, whose storytelling and humor charmed so many and whose love of planes and flying was a lifelong passion, passed away Saturday under the care of Good Shepherd Hospice at Kingwood Skilled Nursing & Therapy in Oklahoma City. He was 85 years nine months old.

I am grateful that David’s daughter Gina Bard Opheim, her husband Lanny Opheim, and David’s granddaughter Brooke Opheim Peters were with my brother before he died.

David was born August 11, 1935, in Columbus OH, the first-born of Marianne (Bays) and Asher Humphrey Bard, both University of Oklahoma graduates.

He was among 10-great-grandchildren of Samuel and Mary Ann (Lyon) Spangler of Clark County MO. Samuel was a captain in the Union Army during the Civil War.

After World War II David became an early member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.

In 1950, at the age of 14, he was one of 47,163 Scouts at the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge PA, where he heard President Harry Truman up close as he made a speech five days after the Korean War began and days later General Dwight Eisenhower, then president of Columbia University.

David graduated from Edmond High School in Edmond OK in 1953, then served in the U.S. Army, mostly in Germany, during 1954-1956. During his time in Germany, where he served as a radio operator, he saw the formal end of its World War II occupation. His Field Artillery unit’s radio operations were regularly cited for their outstanding performance.

On July 1, 1960, he was married to the late Patricia Rae French, an honored music teacher at Blanchard High School, at First United Methodist Church of Blanchard OK. Three years later, in 1963, he was elected as a Blanchard town trustee.

In 1975 he obtained his private pilot license for single-engine airplanes. He continued to love planes and flying long after his license expired. In his 70s he had the opportunity to fly with then Oklahoma’s only woman stunt pilot, Kelly Pietrowicz, in her Pitts Special.

In 2003 he enjoyed a 10-day visit to Hawaii.

In 2010 he traveled to Germany with me, his brother, to revisit where he had been stationed in the U.S. Army 55 years before. We also made brief visits to France; to Zurich, Switzerland; to Salzburg, Austria; and to Prague, Czech Republic.

He underwent open-heart surgery in 2011 at the Oklahoma VA Medical Center, which provided him with good care for so many years.

David was a Linotype operator for The Daily Oklahoman at OPUBCO for 20 years (1958-1978). His other employment included sandwich routes in Northwest Oklahoma and Southwest Oklahoma, where he made many friends, and Kleen Products.

Arrangements are pending at Fort Sill National Cemetery (Advantage).

He was preceded in death by our sister Martha Bard Meyer of Lakewood CO, who studied botany at Penn State, was a long-time volunteer, and painted despite a major stroke.

Besides his brother, Richard (Karen) of Miami FL, David is survived by his daughter Gina Bard Opheim (Landon) of Midland TX; grandson Eric Opheim (Deanna) of Leander TX; granddaughter Brooke Opheim Peters (Stephen) of Midland TX; great-granddaughters Natalie Peters and Thea Opheim; two nephews, John Meyer (Louise) of Hattiesburg MS, and Ryan Bard (Hoang) of Miami FL; two nieces, Karen Meyer Ferguson (Joe) of Broomfield CO and Marsha Bard Maldonado (Daniel) of Roswell GA; four grand-nephews, Matthew Meyer, Dylan Maldonado, Connor Bard, and Andrew Maldonado; one grand niece, Hailey Bard; and many cousins.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AdvantageSouth.com for the Bard family.