David William Lords

David William Lords, age 67, of Scottsdale, Arizona, passed away in his home on December 21, 2023.

David's story began on August 24, 1956 when he was born to Nancy and Marlow Lords in Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, California. He would be the first of their five children. As the oldest child of their young military family, David spent much of his childhood experiencing different places and cultures - acquiring a love for both travel and adventure that would stay with him for the remainder of his life.

He attended sixth through ninth grades in Stuttgart, Germany. His experiences around Europe during those years ignited a hunger to see the world, and over the next fifty years, he would do just that. There were few places on this planet that David did not experience.

On several occasions in his childhood, while his father was deployed, David was given the opportunity to live in the home of his grandparents, Freda and Harry Raub, along with his mother and siblings. David was the apple of his grandparents’ eye - and they, the apple of his. It was their influence that instilled in him an appreciation for the finer things of this world, an understanding that the finer things could be attained through hard work and a true entrepreneurial spirit, and that an abundance was best suited to a giving, generous heart.

In his youth, David began his money-making ventures with a paper route. With that money he took the chance to purchase a bicycle for his younger brother, Harry. Not many years later, David would get his first taste of real money. As president of the high school DECA club, he was picking up some decorations for an event when he found himself in a warehouse full of pantyhose. He immediately saw an opportunity - buying that pantyhose for pennies a pair, he sold it for incredible profits to and through cheerleaders across the area. That year, he gave his mother her first dishwasher.

It was quickly clear to David that he had a talent for sales. Whether it was selling “figurettes” door-to-door, or working the sales floor of the local department store - he seemed to only see success - and he hadn’t even left high school yet. It was in high school that he would also more fully develop his strong charisma, his sharp mind, his mischievous, thrill-seeking attitude, and his natural ability to infuse life into any event. In 1974, he graduated from Layton High School in Layton, Utah with many friends, many life experiences, many successes, and a young fiancee. In no time at all, his fiancee was his wife, and they were welcoming a baby girl.

All of his early momentum hit an unexpected wall in 1975, when at the age of eighteen he was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma with little chance of survival. David spent the next two years battling both the odds and the cancer. In true David fashion, he won.

Stepping back into life with a deeper understanding of its finite nature, David lived the rest of his years with prosperity, passion, and pleasure.

He was a brilliant salesman and businessman. He quickly went from selling merchandise, to selling homes, to selling land, to developing land. He knew countless accomplishments within his field of work, and his skill was recognized world-wide. David won his company’s top commercial sales associate award for logging the highest closed, gross-commission income for the year. He was inducted into the Coldwell Banker Success Realty Hall of Fame, and was one of the company’s top five “President Elite” sales associates. David was the president of the Southeast Valley Regional Association of Realtors. Since 2001, David was a valued member of the Land Advisors Organization - setting many production records and consistently ranking as a top broker in his years with them. One of his favorite endeavors of this time was developing Laughlin Ranch, a premier golf destination in Bullhead City, Arizona.

He also worked hard to give back to his communities. David was a member of the Sun Angel Foundation and was involved in the Boys and Girls Club of Phoenix. He served in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Posse, and was an active member of the US Marshals Posse. He would also travel worldwide to participate in charity events, always bidding on and winning wildly interesting things like a greyhound or a racing day spent with Jeff Gordon.

While David worked hard, he played even harder. Whether it was putting the 350,000 miles on his beloved Hummer, flying to all corners of the earth on his own plane, attending the Grand Prix or Formula 1, playing a round of golf, hunting big game, attending the fair to admire the trains, or simply delighting in delicious crab legs, David knew how to have a good time. And in David’s mind, little could compare to the good time afforded by Disney. Many vacations and holidays found David at Disneyland.

Much like Disney, nobody could tell a story like David could.

Much like Disney, nobody could captivate an audience like David could.

Much like Disney, nobody could make something bigger than life like David could.

Much like Disney, nobody believed in the magic of childhood like David did.

It was perhaps this deep admiration of Disney that inspired David’s own foray into professional storytelling. He proudly produced the 2010 animated film, The Legend of Secret Pass, and even occasionally hosted a segment of local talk radio.

For a man whose eyes sparkled with the magic of childhood, for a man who reveled in the giving of a generous gift, for a man whose senses savored the best of this world, it was no surprise that Christmas was David’s favorite holiday. In the most bittersweet of ways, it is fitting that across from his Christmas tree and amid the Christmas season, the final chapter of David’s life story came to a close. We hope for that future day when the first Christmas gift, even Jesus Christ, will reopen David’s story - and in resurrected glory we may join him again as he, and we, live happily ever after.

David was predeceased by his grandparents Ada and Stanley Lords, and Freda and Harry Raub; his mother, Nancy Lynn Lords; and his nephew, Michael Steven Breakall. He is survived by his father, Marlow Wilford Lords; his siblings, Harry (Patricia) Lords, Norman (Connie) Lords, Marlynn (Bret) Breakall, and Tammy (Patrick) Kendrick; a daughter, Jennifer Ann (Kenneth) Smith and her two children; a wife, Yani Lords; and many nieces and nephews.

On Thursday, January 4th, there will be a memorial reception for David at 6:00 p.m. at Jesterz: 1061 N Dobson Road, #114, Mesa, AZ 85201. Open house. Light hors d’oeuvres.

On Friday, January 5th, funeral services will be held at 21550 E Queen Creek Road, Queen Creek, AZ 85142. Family viewing will be at 10:30 a.m. with services to follow at 11:30 a.m. Interment will be at San Tan Memorial Gardens at Schnepf Farms.