<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<p>How does one put into words memories of the person who was your best friend through childhood, high school, and then your life partner for 55 years?<em> David Francis Belden</em> was one of the most intelligent, funny, yet humble people I ever met, and I had the blessing of being his wife.</p>
<p>David was born on February 20, 1947 in Eau Claire, WI to William F. Belden and Patricia Pitt. He was the eldest of nine children, responsible (even as a boy) for helping care for his younger siblings while his mother worked. Our lives first crossed when his family moved into a farmhouse on my father’s land. David would come help with chores, and soon he and I became friends. We went to a one-room country school together—now a museum in Chippewa Falls—and even then his love of learning stood out. In our little “yearbook,” he wrote that his goal in life was simply “to learn.”</p>
<p>In high school, David excelled in everything he did. He was a scholar and athlete and respected by his classmates, serving as class vice president. He would sometimes walk 10 miles home just so he could play football. He was encouraged by his counselor to apply to a military academy and received an appointment to West Point. With a rousing hometown sendoff, including a “Good Luck, Dave” banner across the town’s main street, he headed to West Point in July 1965.</p>
<p>When he came home after his second year, wearing his cadet “whites,” I no longer saw the boy next door but a handsome young man. That summer we were “pinned,” and by the time he graduated in June 1969 we were ready to begin our life together. Classmate John Legere recalled that, after being David’s roommate for several “details,” when firstie year came, he pleaded with Dave to room with him once again. That’s how people felt about “Baby Dave,” as he was called (due to his cherubic face). Rich Ashley remembers him as always helpful to other classmates and as never one to cause any trouble himself. A week after his graduation, we married in Wisconsin, walking under an arch of crossed sabers held by West Point classmates.</p>
<p>His Army career took us to Fort Benning, GA; Fort Knox, KY; and Fort Lewis, WA, where our first daughter, Wendy, was born in 1970. When David deployed to Vietnam in 1971 with the Americal Division, I was expecting our second child. He didn’t know he had a new baby boy, Daryn, for two weeks, because his unit was moving rapidly between firebases. In Vietnam, his job was to work nights in bunkers, radioing in helicopters as U.S. forces pulled out. It was dangerous work, but he was faithful and steady. For his service, he received two Bronze Stars and the Vietnam Service Medal.</p>
<p>He returned safely in 1972, and we went to Fort Riley, KS, where he served as a captain and company commander. After leaving the military in 1974, David considered working on my father’s farm, but his gifts were more academic. He returned to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, earning his nuclear engineering degree and Health Physics Professional Engineering License while working full-time. Two more daughters, Alyssa (1977) and Aimee (1978), were born during this time as well. As a young family, we went to cheer as David coached a softball team made up of fellow students, co-workers and church friends. At the end of the season the team lovingly presented an autographed winning ball to him. </p>
<p>David’s career led him into medical imaging, where he rose to president of Radiation Measurements Inc. and later worked for companies in California before founding his own consulting business, Belden Engineering. David was known for his honesty and expertise, so much so that state and federal regulators often sent clients to him. One of his greatest joys was knowing that our daughter Alyssa and her husband, Bryan, would continue the work after his passing.</p>
<p>Life was not without struggle. Because of Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam, David’s health began to fail. He survived a massive heart attack, multiple stents, two open-heart surgeries, and a stroke. Yet he never lost his determination, his humor, or his devotion to his family and his Lord.</p>
<p>David’s faith was at the center of his life. He trusted Christ as his Savior years ago, and his favorite scripture was Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Those words guided how he lived and are now inscribed on his headstone.</p>
<p>On October 17, 2024, I held David’s hand through the night as his heart finally gave out. He was 77 years old. On July 9, 2025, he was laid to rest at West Point, honored by five of his beloved Company A-3 classmates, some of whom had also stood with us on our wedding day 56 years earlier.</p>
<p>David is survived by me, our four children, and seven grandchildren. He was a brilliant man, a devoted husband and father, a soldier, and a man. But to me, he was always the farm boy who became my best friend and the love of my life. </p>
<p><em>— Kathy Belden, Wife</em></p>
</body>
</html>