Obituary of Alma Freda Banghart

Alma Banghart, 101, of Greeley, CO, passed away on June 22nd 2023 of natural causes at her daughters home.

Alma was born on September 19th, 1921 to Henry and Elizabeth Wilhelm in Greeley, CO. Alma was the youngest of their 9 children.  Alma left school to drive her father to work on a farm and ended up working on the farm herself often with her brothers and sisters as it was in that era.  As  a teenager Alma did housework in town for wealthy families to earn extra money for the family.

Alma met Herman Banghart in Greeley, CO after his family moved from Montana to Kansas before settling in the Greeley area in 1937.  Alma and Herman were married on November 21st 1939 in Eaton, CO.  They had two sons, Fred and Arnold (Arnie) before Herman was drafted in World War II.   After Herman returned from his service in the Pacific, Alma and Herman opened a number of successful service stations around Greeley because of Herman’s diesel mechanic experience.  Soon after they had a daughter Merinda. Then the couple bought D&D Salvage on N.11th Ave. in Greeley.  Alma and Herman ran the salvage yard hand in hand until Herman’s passing in 1980. Alma continued with the business side by side with her son Arnie for over a decade.  At Alma’s retirement, Arnie and his wife Linda purchased D&D Salvage from Alma and successfully ran the business for years.

In the early 1990’s, Alma retired from the salvage yard.  Alma sometimes spent her time camping, fishing, and finally traveling the world.  After her busy and adventurous years (around 90 years old) Alma spent time gardening, doing yard work at her daughter’s house, and watching classic westerns.

Alma was predeceased by Henry and Elizabeth Wilhelm, Herman Banghart, 8 siblings, son Fred Banghart, son in law Dwayne Deutcher Jr., and grandson Pat Deutcher. She is survived by 2 children - Arnold (Linda) Banghart and Merinda Deutcher, 5 grandchildren - Steve Banghart, Tye (Karin) Banghart, Scott (Andrea) Banghart, Kevin (Jeanne) Banghart, Marcus Deutcher, and 7 great grandchildren and 9 great-great grandchildren.

Services will be held at St.John’s United Church of Christ on Friday, June 30th, 2023 at 11:00 AM.