Daniel "Dan" R. Piper

Daniel Richard Piper, 70, longtime resident of Moses Lake passed away Monday, January 7, 2013 at his home in Moses Lake. Funeral services will be held at 10 AM Saturday, January 12 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Moses Lake Stake Center, 1515 South Division with Bishop Brett Bergeson conducting. Interment will follow in Guarding Angels Cemetery, Moses Lake. Arrangements are in care of Kayser’s Chapel and Crematory. Dan was born 26 January 1942, to Henry and Louise Piper, in San Diego, California, the oldest of 4 boys. Dan grew up working on the family vegetable farm where they grew cabbage and tomatoes. He graduated from Chula Vista High School in 1959. He attended the University of California at Riverside for a time before quitting school to surf in Hawaii. The surfing was good while it lasted, but in the fall of 1963 he joined the Air Force where he served four years as a Nuclear Weapons specialist. He was stationed at Fairchild AFB in Spokane when he met Sheila Winder on a blind date. They married in 1967. Dan was honorably discharged from the Air Force that year, and he and Sheila returned to California so Dan could start a flight training program with the hopes of becoming an airline pilot. He earned all the necessary ratings to qualify as an airline pilot and even became an instructor pilot. To make himself more attractive to the airlines, he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from San Diego State. While at school, Dan supported his family by working as a Chula Vista City fireman and as a Learjet pilot for the Reuben H. Fleet Corporation. With so many pilots returning from Viet Nam, the desired airline job eluded Dan, so in 1974, he accepted an accounting position with the Moss Adams firm in Bremerton, Washington. Though successful as an accountant, life in an office did not satisfy the former farmer/surfer/fireman/pilot. So in 1976 he brought his family to Moses Lake to farm with his father-in-law Floyd Winder. Dan eventually acquired his own farm and successfully grew corn, wheat, and potatoes for 36 years. As a businessman, Dan was generous and fair. When making a business deal, he purposefully sought to see the arrangement from the other person’s perspective. He was a devoted father who supported his children in all their endeavors. Over the years, he employed many teenagers at the farm, including several nephews and grandchildren, where he taught them the value of work and warned them of the vagaries of surfing. Dan enjoyed reading, learning new things, and spending time with his family. Dan is preceded in death by his father Henry Piper, and son, Jeffrey Piper. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Sheila; his daughters, Julie Phipps, Jennifer Radford, and JoAnne Hines; his mother, Louise Piper; his brothers, Jim Piper, Thomas Michael Piper, and Steve Piper; 11 grandchildren, 1 great-grandchild, many nieces and nephews, and all who knew and loved him.

Daniel "Dan" R. Piper

January 26, 1942 - January 7, 2013