Claude Deering Obituary

Claude Elliott Deering Jr., better known as Bud Deering, passed away peacefully at home on April 10, 2024. Bud was born in Durango, Colorado on September 8, 1928, to Evelyn Gooch Deering and Claude Deering Sr. From a young age his goal was to serve his country.

Bud grew up in Silverton but spent summers at Lake Electra. Due to unrest and violence in the mines in Silverton, Bud's parents sent him to Wasatch Academy, a Presbyterian boarding school in Mount Pleasant, Utah starting in 8th grade. After graduating, he was accepted at the University of Colorado in the Navy ROTC program. In the summer after his freshman year, he was on active duty as a midshipman for an eight-week cruise on the battleship USS Iowa. The following summers he was assigned to submarine duty and aircraft carriers. In his junior year, only 5% of his class would be accepted into the Marine Corps, he applied and was sent to Quantico Marine Base in Virginia.

Bud's military career lasted for 25 years. He started at Camp Pendleton in southern California as a weapons platoon commander, then was assigned to Fort Bliss, and finally off to flight school in Pensacola. Upon receiving his wings, he joined a fighter squadron at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina. Next steps included joining the first Jet Training Squadron in the Naval Training Command, then off to Japan, eventually becoming a nuclear weapons officer. Bud flew 329 missions in Vietnam. His next assignment was at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington D.C. where he was the head of the Aviation Control Unit. He was selected below the zone for Colonel and attended the National War College. He received a citation stating, "the President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting a gold star in lieu of the twenty-third air metal for heroic achievement in aerial flight." He also earned the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat Action Ribbon, Cross of Gallantry, Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnam Service Metal.

After leaving the Marine Corps at 42 years old, he stayed in Washington D.C. As a certified flight instructor, on weekends he taught future pilots and on weekdays worked at the American Petroleum Institute as the Senior Mechanical Engineer.

In 1980, he returned to Durango. Bud became the first Public Works Director of La Plata County and during his tenure thirty-four bridges were built in the county. He attended the Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy and became a certified officer. In November 1986, he was elected La Plata County Commissioner from District 1. After retiring from public life, he joined the board of the Animas Water Company, then volunteering and eventually working for them. In addition to a busy professional life, he was active in High Noon Rotary and a strong supporter of the vocational scholarship program.

Bud is survived by his wife of 25 years, Judy Michalski and his children from a previous marriage: Cheryl Deering, Claude Randall Deering and Deborah Ann Deering-Kelly. He was preceded in death by his parents, Claude and Evelyn Deering and his sister Evelyn Deering Timmons.

Services in Durango will be held on Friday, May 17 at 11:00 a.m. at Greenmount Cemetery, Military Memorial Section. A private service for the family will be held in St. Cloud, MN. In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Wounded Warriors Project.