Dana Marshall Futch

In Loving Memory of Dana Marshall Futch

November 30, 1947 – May 5, 2026

Life is the dance to be savored, so join in this day’s romance. Too long the years, too short the days Require the frame much to play. Invite this time to take that long branch of excitement. For with the seasons should come wisdom. In all that arrives that the wise can enjoy the dance as well as the fool; those that dance consider these the cool. We exist under the same moon and sun awaiting the overlooked glance. July will pass you by, as June spends its tune. August, if she must, will push the clock to dust.

Whirl out from under the dark cloth, find the tune, then set the cadence. For time is always that step ahead, and now is the moment called to dance. Take in this moment’s notice, take this spark to advance. Simple, bold moves are eternally the best, oft that demand this to pass a life test. Enjoy! For you will never drop by this way again. So, advance and dance; make the most of this your time. Get up and do not stay. For as a wise woman once told me, “It is a crime to waste time.”

Those are Dana Marshall Futch’s words from a poem he wrote his mother-in-law nearly 25 years ago. Words his wife wanted to share with us all today. Simple, bold moves are eternally the best, oft that demand this to pass a life test. Simple and bold. Both leave an undeniable impression on a life. Yet few of us embrace them so equally. And boy, did Dana Futch ever live by his words. A simple conversation that starts on a college campus can wind up lasting 53 years. A bold proposal can set lives in motion. Even if it means you need a little added boldness … and a few more tries. Life's tests are in the little moments. Every act of kindness will open doors to the love that carries you through it. Dana Futch opened those doors. Devoted husband. Trusted business owner. Man of steady faith. Historian at heart.

Dana was a man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask. He met Alta Lee Milner at Tarrant County Junior College after graduating from Arlington Heights High School. Alta Lee’s supervisor, who noticed them talking, conveniently needed someone to lift heavy boxes and hired Dana on the spot. Their first real date was a piano recital where Dana performed one of his own compositions. Alta Lee, walking in, caught her heel on a portable chalkboard and walked right out of her shoe. Quite a first impression. But Dana was sure he'd found the one.

He was so sure, in fact, that he asked her to marry him more than once. Alta Lee, who felt she did not deserve such a man, kept saying no until she realized that was exactly the kind of man she did deserve. When they married on September 29, 1972, at Dana's parents' home in Fort Worth, they did not choose a diamond. They chose a foundation, putting a down payment on a house in Crowley that would hold 53 years of memories. The ring came later. The commitment was there from day one.

Not surprisingly, that same devotion to family defined his life’s work. Growing up as the son of a career military man, Dana learned early that home isn't a place on a map, but the people you stand beside. He carried that loyalty into his professional life. After graduating with a Business Administration degree from Texas Wesleyan in 1973, he founded Independent Bookkeeping Service Co., later partnering with his father, Hubert, to build a practice rooted in absolute trust.

He eventually extended that circle even further, co-founding Atlantis Enterprises alongside his twin brother, David, and his sister, Desiree. Both businesses operated out of the same building his parents had built to house his mother Elaine’s artwork. Two successful businesses literally built on the foundation of family. And that’s how he treated his clients.

In a world of shortcuts, Dana did not believe in them. Like a protective big brother, he balanced the books, building the kind of trust that creates lifelong bonds. His clients became more than just accounts; they were friends he welcomed into that extended family circle. Dana and David also taught defensive driving for several years. To the surprise of no one who met them, they used humor to make the last place you want to spend a Saturday feel like time well spent.

Dana brought a sense of humor that was one of a kind. Or maybe two of a kind. He and David had a gift for keeping people guessing as only twins can. When Dana and Alta Lee were still dating, he arranged a double date, forgetting to mention they'd be going out with his mirror image. Alta Lee's sisters watched from the background, dying laughing, as she took a moment to figure out which one was Dana.

Of course, the tables do have a way of turning. Even after they were married, Dana had his own troubles telling Alta Lee apart from her mother and sisters on the phone. They all sounded alike, and more than once, he would unknowingly ask one of them out. They would get to be the ones to tell Alta Lee where she was apparently going on her date when she got home.

He loved Alta Lee's family as his own, genuinely delighting in the people she brought into his life. He treated his nieces and nephews not as children, but as people worth knowing. He’d take them on walks around the farm or the neighborhood and share stories along the way. Even if some of their stories didn’t always make much sense — like when one of them panicked that a cow was melting — he knew how to listen to a kid. If their story was worth telling, it was worth his time to hear it. He loved hearing their stories and watching them all grow into the adults and parents they became.

The stories Dana liked to share most came from his own unique childhood perspective. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, to H.H. Futch and Elaine Futch, he saw the world as a military kid before planting roots in Texas. He lived in Missouri, Washington, Alabama, Florida, Morocco, Spain, Europe, and the Dominican Republic. While his father was stationed overseas, he spent weekends exploring Europe, and somewhere along the way, he got to study history under an Allied spy who had worked inside Nazi Germany during World War II. Dana spent the rest of his life feeding that curiosity, reading about Napoleon, the Civil War, debating history with anyone willing, and even designing his own war game from scratch. He loved to create. He played five different instruments: piano, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and clarinet. He drew. He wrote poetry. He composed original pieces and performed them. Most of all, he was a storyteller who loved a good debate, and he had the material to back it up.

For a man who had seen so much of the world, he found some of his best days just walking around Crowley with his best friend, Green Eyes. The rescue dog had been turned out at the farm and found his way to Dana's backyard, ready for a new life. Dana was ready, too. At one point, Dana had weighed close to 400 pounds. Green Eyes walked with him all over Crowley, and block by block, the weight came off. Dana credited that dog with much of his journey back to better health. Man’s best friend. It may be cliché, but as Dana reminded us in his own writing, there is poetry in cliches.

Make the most of every walk together.

Dana's life can be defined by the simplest of gestures: the figurative and literal doors he never stopped holding open. For nearly their entire marriage, he rarely missed holding the door for Alta Lee. He allowed the people in his life the space to be exactly who they were. Alta Lee said it best: "He respected and allowed me to be me." He didn't smother. He didn't demand. He simply stayed true. “He was the kindest man I ever met.”

As you’d expect from two music lovers, he and Alta Lee shared a rhythm. Every goodbye was a small moment that echoed a lifetime of sweetness:

"Roses are red, violets are blue, but there is none as sweet as you."

Dana Futch was a sweet soul. A good man who made the simplest, boldest move we can make in today’s world … to stay kind, stay honest, and stay devoted.

And that is the most powerful test a life can pass.

Dana was preceded in death by his parents, Elaine and H. H. Futch; his twin brother, David; half-brothers Milton and Hubert; and his beloved dog, Green Eyes. Survivors include his wife, Alta Lee Futch; his sister, Desiree Sue Futch and Mike Strelczyk; the Milner, McCoy, Oxhandler, and Lafayette families; and many friends who were lucky enough to be part of his extended family circle.

In lieu of flowers the family requests your donation be made to a no-kill animal shelter of your choice in Dana's honor.