David Craig Hess

On March 21, 2025, Heaven not only got one of the good ones..it got one of the BEST ones. David Craig Hess, went to Heaven after a most courageous battle with cancer at age 70. He battled like a warrior but couldn’t win the fight. No one fought harder than he did.

Dave (or Zeke to his brothers) was born on May 28, 1954, in Tremonton, Utah to Quintin R. Hess & Vonda Belle Tolman Hess. He was raised on the family dairy farm in Fielding, Utah, where he worked alongside his brothers and sisters raising sheep, pigs, chickens, horses for working in the fields and milking cows. When he was six years old, he started showing sheep for 4H and FFA.

Dave started playing basketball in the 8th grade and went on to play throughout high school as well as on many city and church leagues well into his 50’s, with many players much younger than he was, and won numerous championships and awards. At one point he played as many as six games in one week. He was also the FFA President while in high school, graduating from Bear River High in 1972.

Dave worked on the family farm for many years putting in long hours milking cows, planting, irrigating and harvesting crops and many long hot hours hauling hay. It is here he developed his unique work ethic that he carried with him everywhere he went, in whatever he did, for the rest of his life. Dave has been called the hardest working man by anyone who knew him. There was never a job he wouldn’t do and do it until it was finished.

Dave married Patti Fronk in 1973. They were later divorced. From this marriage he had five sons which he considered his greatest accomplishment. He said he always wanted his own basketball team..and he got it!

He farmed for several years after getting married, then got a job at the U&I sugar factory before starting his career at Thiokol Chemical Corporation in Promontory, Utah. He retired from there in 2021 after 42 years of service. Dave worked in several different production areas on many different aspects of the Space Shuttle booster motors both in the manufacturing and quality departments before becoming a manager in the finance world. He was a self-taught man and had to learn how to turn on a computer when he got that job and went from there to create very complicated spreadsheets with thousands of line items and managed million-dollar budgets.

Dave married Rocky (Roxanne) Hess on March 2, 2012, and was later sealed in the St. George temple on December 28, 2013, for time and all eternity. They enjoyed spending time at their cabin in Bear Lake and his favorite thing was feeding all the animals that wondered into the yard and taking long rides around the lake and in the mountains in their Ranger. They enjoyed traveling, gardening, golfing and watching their grandkids play in sports and dance competitions.

Dave was an avid golfer and enjoyed many games played with his brothers, sons and friends every chance he got. He won many tournaments and usually gave his winnings away to whomever he played with.

He also enjoyed reading, especially the scriptures, Dutch oven cooking and was a master gardener. There wasn’t anything Dave couldn’t grow, fix or build. He always had a project going or was thinking of the next one. Work gave him great joy, especially if he was helping someone else.

Dave was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many callings over the years. Nothing made him happier than serving the Lord in whatever capacity he was called to. He gave his all in whatever he was asked to do.

Dave will be sadly missed by his wife, Rocky (Roxanne) Hansen Hess; five sons: Shawn, Chris (Kerri), Travis (Sierra), Brady (Stephanie), Justin (Kelsie); stepdaughters: Jamie Eyre (Dave Richards), Brook Whitaker and a stepson Colt Whitaker (Mandy); 22 grandchildren and one great-grandson. Also, his brothers Tim (Karen), Vaughn (Tonya) and Barry (Joelle); sisters Judy Richards and Mary (Mike) Perry and Becky (Jeff) Ewing; sisters-in-law Jane Hess and Marlene Hess.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Chuck, Harold and Quint and sister Gaylene.

Services will be held on Friday, March 28, 2025, at 11 A.M. at the Deweyville Church. Viewings will be held on Thursday, March 27, 2025, from 6-8 P.M. at Rudd Funeral Home- Tremonton (111 N 100 E- Tremonton) and prior to the service on Friday at the church from 9-10:30 A.M. Burial will be in the Bear River City Cemetery.