Obituary of Danny Ray Troutman

Danny Ray Troutman was born January 12, 1949 in the small Arizona town of Morenci. The son of LeRoy and Maxine Troutman. As a youngster he earned his firearm safety certificate in 1961 along with NRA marksmanship awards. He grew thru the boy scouting system and taught marksmanship at Camp Snow Flat in the Graham Mountains by Safford Arizona. He graduated Morenci High School in 1967 and married his high school sweetheart, Sandy, in 1969. Danny worked for his dad"s log home construction business while he was going to college at New Mexico Highlands University where he earned a BA in Industrial Arts Vocational Education with minors in Business and Secondary Education. He graduated in 1971. He ran a backhoe and dump truck and we used to joke that he literally dug his way through college. With his new degree, wife and new son, Nathan, he starts his life"s career of teaching in yet another small Arizona Town, Douglas. He became their Industrial Arts teacher and during the summer he would work with the summer youth vocational programs. Two years there and he set his sights on Central Arizona College in Coolidge. He became the Purchasing Agent for a college under expansion and it was an exciting time. He was able to finally get back in teaching again with the position of Professor of Manufacturing Technologies. The college had two campuses and after a few years he accepted the position of Assistant Superintendent of Building and Grounds for the second campus and the family moved to Oracle Arizona and increased their family by a baby girl, Wendy. That position led him to being able to teach numerous General Technologies classes. He developed a community class he called "What to do until the repairman comes", the community loved it and he had a blast. They also had a great time when he developed a class that taught the students how to build the action for a black powder pistol. Great times! We all know you can starve to death being a teacher so he had the opportunity in 1982 to work for a company called Tiernay Turbines. He used to be asked what he did there and he would joking say he was a paid inventor. He was in charge of the model shop and first article development was the game. Happy man. Sixteen years of designing, trouble shooting redesigning and producing some of the most amazing pieces of equipment men can produce. Cryogenic deflashers, jump starters for the Apache helicopters, crude oil fired turbines and the auxiliary power unit that is still being used on the Abrams Tanks today. Exciting stuff. During these above years Danny never lost the closeness of his family. He wanted to serve the community he lived in. He was passionate about hunting and concerned that the education just wasn"t out there to help those make the experience a safe enjoyable one. He started teaching Hunter Education, Firearm Safety thru the Arizona Game and Fish as a volunteer in his spare time. His children were taught in the classes and so were countless others and adults. Even families. He was chief instructor for the Casa Grande area. The program grew to a point of 12 instructors in Casa Grande 2 in Florence and 4 in Coolidge. In 1999 he and his family moved to Gilbert where he continued with the program and his last class was finished this fall, 2011. His son and daughter decided they were both going to marry their fiancÁ©s in 2003. Nathan and Wendy just being Nathan and Wendy. He gained and beautiful daughter in law, Rebecca and an awesome son in law, Robert. They also both blessed him with grandsons in 2005, a grand daughter in 2007 and another grandson in 2009. Blessings from heaven that were the light of his life. He was Papa from that point forward and always the teacher. He gave without expecting anything in return, he helped and volunteered unselfishly. Always there, just say the word and his family life never missed a beat. He was a devoted husband to Sandy for 42 years, a loving father and "Papa". Danny passed away November 24, 2011 at the age of 62. He will be known forever for the tracks he left. He touched many hearts. Donations in Danny's honor may be directed to Arizona Game and Fish Dept. C/O Hunter Education Program, 5000 West Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086 Please make note on memo line "In Memory of Danny Troutman".