05/28/2026
Dr. Howard F. Sauer
Howard F Sauer peacefully passed away surrounded by his sons on May 23, 2026
He is survived by his two brothers, Bob and Jim, His three sons, Daniel, David and Dale, his grandson Zane Sauer and ex-wife Bonnie Sauer.
He was proceeded in death by his parents, William Conrad Sauer and Lois V Bunger, his brother William Sauer, the mother of his four children Donna, his son Dirk Samuel Sauer, and his grandson Kenneth Paul Sauer.
Howard lived in Palmer Lake and Broomfield Colorado for most of his life prior to leaving for college. He attended Wheat Ridge high school and played quarterback for their football team. After graduation, he attended University of Colorado receiving his pre-medical degree and was accepted to the University of Nebraska School of Dentistry.
Prior heading to Nebraska he married his college sweetheart Donna May Mitze on December 19, 1954. During dental school, they had their first son Daniel John. Howard then served two years to complete his dental degree with the Air Force while stationed in Maine. During that time of service, he had his second son David Paul. After leaving the service, he moved to Montrose in 1961 to start his Dental practice. Donna and Howard had two more sons Dirk Samuel and Dale Matthew while in Montrose. Howard continued to practice dentistry in Montrose until his retirement in 2000.
After Howard’s divorce from Donna, he remarried Bonnie O’Brien and spent many happy years being grandpa to all the grandchildren of his families. At the time of his death, he had 10 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren, and one great great grandchild.
Our father was a great man!
A true farmer at heart, but a dentist by trade. He had a "no give up" attitude about all things in life. He also had no fear of jumping into the unknown. We thought he would jump into things just to learn. He was always trying to figure out what works best, or how they work, or even why they did something the way they were doing it. As a dentist, he started as a family dentist but found that it was not enough. He soon acted as an oral surgeon for the hospital and then an orthodontist in his practice. He was also one of the first dentists in this area to do implants. Oh, did we say, he did all his own lab work after he was done with his patients. He did dentures, crowns, bridges, and more, when you went to Dad, you got the full treatment. He could or would do whatever he could for his patient’s and do it at a fair price. In a lot of cases to help with the cost, he would trade or make some kind of a deal. He was very professional with his patients, although you might catch him mowing the lawn as you came up the driveway to your appointment... He made sure he washed his hands though.
That’s where the farmer came in. He found his passion for farming in the form of grass. It started out with Kentucky bluegrass, which was, at the time, the best he could buy. We started a sod farm at our home. Yeah, we started with trying sweet corn at first but ended up growing grass. His thought was that us boys doing some farming could make a little summer money for the kids and scratch his farmers itch as well. Through this farming, he taught us how hard work can pay off. The four boys either mowed yards for someone else or mowed our own yard to sell. As part of the sod farm, we were prepping places for sod or using our tractor to do things to help other people. That taught us a lot about doing what you say you will do, being honest, and working hard. I now know that Montrose turf was not only a learning experience but was a write off and reduced his allowance debt to his four boys, Lol.
Farmer Dad sold his dental practice and the house, which had the lawn that was a sod farm. They bought a place that had a lawn about the size of a family room. We were thinking he would slow down on the grass. Well, did he prove us wrong... before too long, he had over 2 acres of lawn at that house. By the way, it was a better grass because it was a hybrid of Bluegrass. Well, it was a beautiful place, but they moved again into town. Guess what, he had to get 3 acres in the ground, but it was a new form of fescue that used less water and grew horizontally. Again, he made it a beautiful home. It was a joke between our friends as we were growing up that dad was “Sauerrizing,” which was a form of making things better. He did that a lot.
Adventures, Wow!!! Did we have them? Work hard! Play hard! That was Howard. From when we were small to graduating from high school, we had to get our work done to be able to go do something on the weekend. This is how he taught us delayed gratification and the value of setting goals.
What was the fun? You name it, fishing, hiking, four wheeling, sightseeing, camping, snowmobiling, and anything else we could find to do. His “no sitting around” attitude, got us to a lot of places, meaning he created countless memories and good times. After his marriage to Bonnie, he got a chance to provide all these memories to a much larger family, with his 5 children, 10 grandkids, and 18 great grandkids. If that wasn’t enough, he took pictures of all of it so we can now look back and appreciate our time with Dad and Grandpa Howard. What a man!
Dad believed in helping others, that just wasn’t a word for Howard. In his later years, he just wanted to help. It didn’t matter who or with what, he just wanted to help. We don’t know anyone that doesn’t really look back now and see that side of Howard. What a friend!
Dad could be very funny, in his later years, he showed a sense of humor that was quite funny. At 91, he lost his driver's license, and he could not reach as many people to help. His age had also limited his ability to help by using his physical skills. He just changed gears and used his personality to get a smile from as many people as he could. He had all the staff and several of the residents that he lived with entertained most every day with his wry smile and a twinkle in his eye!
Our father was a great father, and we learned from him up to the day he passed, His boys will continue to learn from him for many years, God willing!
Howard was a very dedicated family man, and we wanted to share his son’s perspective of his rich and giving life.
The family would like to thank The Spring Creek Chalet for the excellent care they provided for Howard over the past year, they were very dedicated to making sure Howard was happy and comfortable. His every whim was attended to by all the staff. In addition to the Chalet, a special thank you to HopeWest for their help the past few months, their dedication to the patient is exceptional.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday September 05, 2026, at Crippin Funeral Home, starting at 10:00am. A reception held by the family will follow the memorial service, location not yet determined.
Crippin Funeral Home is handling final arrangement, in lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to HopeWest, they can be contacted at 970-240-7734 or mailed to 725 S. 4th St., Montrose, Co. 81401.
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