Ted Dunlap

DARBY – Ted Dunlap, 74, of Darby passed away Thursday, July 18, 2024 at his home.  Ted was born in Santa Rosa, California on August 16, 1949 to Edwin Veghte Dunlap and Marilyn Lucille Dunlap. He had three siblings, Fred (Frank) Dunlap, Susan Claire Dunlap, and Elita Beth Mercer Dunlap. Ted was a musician, be it karaoke, trombone (jazz and big band) or self-taught upright bass (bluegrass and everything else).

Ted was a sailor (Nacra 5.8 catamaran), motorcyclist, auto-crosser and car racer at Laguna Seca, Sears Point, and most recently Utah Motor Speedway. Ted had a few hair-raising experiences on motorcycles, in cars, and even losing the brakes on his dump truck approaching a busy intersection after leaving the freeway while towing a tractor on a trailer.

As a kid, Ted’s father taught him chess, ping pong, and tennis. Ted also learned woodworking skills because his father had a wood shop where Ted built his first box racer. Ted learned electrical and plumbing working for his dad in his Sonoma Water Treatment business.

Ted earned a man’s wages working for his maternal grandfather, Herbert Keeler, who had a plum ranch and also taught students how to build airplanes at Yuba College in Marysville, California after the war. Herb was a competitive pistol shooter and Ted wished he’d learned that and welding from Grandpa Keeler.

On his dad’s side, his “Grandpa D” helped him take apart and rebuild a car engine when Ted was a teen. Funny story there about nearly taking the roof support down with the engine.

Ted was a computer operator at Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah, during the Vietnam War and worked for Hewlett Packard after his Air Force service. He ushered in Email to company staff who were very reluctant to accept it. He was programming early computers with lights and punch cards and enjoyed playing jokes on coworkers.

In later years, Ted became a writer, and blogger with a number of websites, each for a different area of interest. He even graduated to vlogger posting videos on various topics in recent years.

Ted was a political activist after discovering the Libertarian Party. He quickly took the Idaho Libertarian Party to new levels of activism when he ran for office, first as a representative in 2002 and 2004, Idaho Governor in 2002 and 2006, Ada County Sheriff in 2012, and after moving there, Governor of Montana in 2016.

While working at Hewlett Packard, Ted started his own custom tractor business as The Gentleman Farmer. He loved shooting, and coaching shooters young and old. He roasted his own coffee and worked in metal and wood in his shop. He was an Amateur Radio Extra, call sign K9GT, an artist (designed his business card in pastels) and taught gardening and Ham Radio in Adult Education classes.

Ted always had a dog and his Shepherd/Pit cross, Bosco, will miss him, as well as our Lab/Beagle cross rescue, Scooter. Bosco was always by his side and Scooter on his feet for her protection.

Ted leaves behind his wife of 23 years, Melissa, of Darby; a son, Richard Dunlap of Utah; three daughters, Andrea Dunlap-Shulte, Christa (Charlie) Dunlap-Flaherty, and Deedra Dunlap all of California; step-daughter, Sara Mason (Cory) of Seattle; 2 step-sons, Scott (Angela) Hansen of South Carolina and David (Darlene) Hansen of Idaho; and 20 grandchildren.

One of his websites was Bitterrootbugle.com.