David Merle Orchard

David Merle Orchard (1952 - 2025)

My Story Large

David Orchard

Tell my story, Boy, when I die

and tell it loud and large.

If it was in the woods,

say my bellows were louder than the bear's

and that afterwards

its jaw hung slack as if broken.

If it was at sea,

say it was the white or the tiger

not the bull so despised by Hemingway.

If it was by fire,

say my old enemy came to settle the score

and only by treachery prevailed.

And if it was in bed,

say your mother was in my arms

and my children were on my lips.

David Merle Orchard passed away on Jan. 7, 2025, at the age of 72, surrounded by loved ones in Katy, Texas.

David was an oilman, a fireman, a scientist, an entrepreneur, and a poet. He loved fishing, baseball, unearthing Ice Age megafauna bones, and throwing elaborate surprise birthday parties for his wife of 51 years. His eyes would light up when his kids could identify the Great Unconformity on one of the family's frequent road trips through the American West.

David was born Oct. 21, 1952 in Ukiah, Calif. His father, Merle, was an accomplished boxer, attorney, prosecutor, and harmonicist. Both David and his uncle, Wayne, would regularly describe Merle as "the best man I've ever known." David's mother, Ruth, was an erudite teacher and civic organizer who delighted in showing off her grandchildren to the Ukiah French Club (and terrifying them with invitations to the San Francisco Opera). David grew up in a hillside home above the Russian River with two sisters, the late Anne Hurley and Janet Orchard, plus a rotating menagerie of donkeys, horses, ravens, raccoons, and very good dogs. He wrestled and ran track at Ukiah High School, where his record time in the 100-yard low hurdles still stands. (Races began being measured in meters the following year.)

David rowed crew at Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. In his free time, he would hitchhike up the El Camino Real to the College of Notre Dame in Belmont to see Marie Anne Horning, also from Ukiah. He spent four summers in the Coast Ranges fighting 105 wildfires (including one while dressed as Smokey the Bear). His biggest -- a 10,000 acre blaze near Covelo -- was also his last; he left the front lines to marry Marie on Sept. 22, 1973.

One of David's lifelong fascinations, incurring lifelong teasing from his children, was geology -- its mysteries, majesty, and revelatory "time-transcendent experiences." This led him to San Diego State University and to a pair of stints doing fieldwork for the USGS around Anaktuvuk Pass in Alaska's Brooks Range. It led him to graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Master of Science in Geology – and where David and Marie's eldest, Emily, was born on his birthday in 1979.

It also led to a long and productive career in oil and gas exploration, beginning with ERG in Houston. In 1982, BHP Petroleum transferred the family to Denver, where Phillip and Ellen were born, and eventually back to Houston for good in 1989. In 1994, David started Manzanita Alliances -- a prosperous industry services company that he ran with Marie until its sale in 2007 -- along with side projects involving, among other things, translating Chinese petroleum literature, plus some misadventures in digital publishing in London. He remained active in local geology circles, helping revive the Houston Chief Geologists and serving as editor of the Houston Geological Society's in-house journal, the HGS Bulletin. He always longed for a return to his scientific roots. Toward this end, in 2005, he started the Foundation for Quaternary Paleontology of Venezuela in support of a project excavating Pleistocene fossils from the Breal de Orocual tar pits in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt. The following year, he returned to work as a geologist with ConocoPhillips. He found a lot of oil.

In Houston, the family flourished. David served as Little League coach and Boy Scouts leader. He was fond of organizing fishing expeditions along the Gulf Coast, geology field trips, and backpacking treks spanning from the San Andreas Fault along the Lost Coast to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in Iceland. He made several trips to check in on his kids' overseas adventures in London, Switzerland and Thailand. He was a proud member of the Knights of Columbus council at St. Edith Stein Catholic Church and the Houston Poetry Society. Each Christmas, family and friends would receive an anthology of his recent poetry whether they wanted one or not.

The family also expanded. In 2007, David dispatched Phillip to Liberia to help Samuel Holmes, a promising tennis player, secure a student visa to attend college in Houston. In 2009, David took the first of his own two trips to Liberia, returning with Samuel's brother, Abraham Kamara, and fostering a profound kinship with their father, Arah. Both boys thrived in Texas and became full members of the family.

David’s final years were spent primarily doting on his 10 grandchildren. He became a member of St. Bartholomew the Apostle Catholic Church in Katy, Texas, and a volunteer firefighter. He loved the Astros and organizing work weekends at the family's bucolic "farm" (total output: 1.5 peaches) near New Ulm, Texas.

In addition to Marie and the kids, David is survived by his sister Janet Orchard; son-in-law Justin Kilbride; daughters-in-law Constance Dykhuizen, Ashton Holmes, and Olivia Enriquez-Kamara; and extended family Maddy Hirshfield, Mary Nolan, and James Steindl. He was the proud grandfather of Rex, Eden, Kenna and Noelle Kilbride; Nakaiya, Aliana, Kendrick, Eloise and Preston Holmes; and Autumn Kamara. The Orchard family’s thanks and gratitude go to the devoted caregivers at Evergreen Cottages, as well as the dear friends who regularly visited David and supported Marie during such a difficult time.

In lieu of sending flowers, pick up an interesting rock, listen closely to hear its stories, and show it to everyone you know. Or consider a donation in David's name to the Houston Geological Society's scholarship funds. (For details, see https://www.hgs.org/education_scholarships or call 713-463-9476.)

Burial will be held in Ukiah, California, at the Russian River Cemetery, Low Gap Road, on Friday, June 13th, 11:00am. Gathering at Ukiah City Park to follow.