Obituary: Dwane LaVar Niedens

August 20, 1930 – July 30, 2021

Dwane Niedens proceeded into Heaven on July 30 4:15 a.m. where he met his wife Phyllis, son Steven, his parents Reinhardt and Pauline and sister Mary. He is survived by his daughter, Dianne; grandchildren: Candace, Jackie, Paul and Cindy; Great grandchildren: Devynn, Avry, Dayzee, Maya, Naomi, Leandra, Oliver and Madeline.

He lived most of his life in Colorado, mainly the North Denver area where he spent his teen years and met the love of his life, Phyllis A. Burkholder (aka Phyl). From there, they moved to the West Slope (Frasier) and started their family, having both Dianne and Steve there. There they lived during Dwane’s time serving in the Merchant Marines, at the time of the Korean War, while he also worked on the railroad near the Continental Divide, for the ski resort and the water board. 

Their adventures then took them to California for a year, where Dwane was pursuing an art degree, and back to Denver where he and Phyl owned and ran a Hobby Shop in North Denver. They then enjoyed many years together in Carbondale as they raised their family, were part of the church and community and Dwane had a successful contracting company, “Niedens Construction.” He and Phyllis spent their final years enjoying the sunshine in Yuma, Arizona, and he enjoyed being a member of the Yuma Aeromodelers Club, as well as faithfully serving in a Yuma church for many years.

He loved Jesus, his family and friends, riding motorcycles, airplanes, model airplanes, westerns, reading, animals, pizza, doughnuts, ice cream and John Wayne. He had a reputation for being a talented craftsman, no matter what the craft! He was an honest man with integrity who pursued excellence in all that he did and lived a good, long, honorable life.

He will be dearly missed, yet we look forward to being reunited with him in Heaven one day! We are grateful that we have our hope in the Lord and are covered by the peace that surpasses all human understanding as we mourn the loss of Dwane and celebrate in recognition that all of Heaven is rejoicing for his return home to the arms of our Father!