David (Dave) Loren Milligan

David (Dave) Loren Milligan, 70, passed away on Sunday, August 24, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas (TX). He was born on June 4, 1955, in Windsor, Vermont (VT) to Deane and Miriam (Henderson) Milligan and graduated from High School, in 1973 as the class Valedictorian.

He continued his education at the University of Vermont, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology. In both high school and college, Dave was an outstanding track and cross-country runner. He competed in numerous marathons, including Boston, Montreal, Augsburg, Fulda, Frankfurt and the "original" marathon in Athens Greece. He also ran the 8-mile Mount Washington, NH road race in just under an hour. Mount Washington, at 6,300 feet, is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States.

On July 4, 1977, Dave began Army Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and went on to serve 26 years as a Signals and All-Source Intelligence Analyst. He retired in San Antonio as a Chief Warrant Officer Four (CW4). During his many years in the Army, he was stationed or assigned to Temporary Duty (TDY) at nearly every Army post in the United States and several Air Force bases as well. At Fort Meade, Maryland and the National Security Agency (NSA) where he received advanced training. He spent extensive time overseas with assignments to Augsburg, Frankfurt and Heidelberg, Germany. At the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, Dave became proficient in Russian.

In April 1984, he married Debra K. Disney, from Soddy-Daisy, TN, who was also serving in the Army at the time. In December 1990, he deployed from Fort Hood, Texas with the Third Armored Division to Southwest Asia, traveling from King Khalid Military City, Saudi Arabia, through the desert and Iraq to Kuwait and Bahrain, in support of Operations Desert Shield and Storm. He received a Bronze Star for his service there.

On March 15, 1999, Dave and Debra's daughter, Jessica, was born in Heidelberg, Germany. Dave retired from the Army in 2000 while stationed in San Antonio. Three years later, in October 2003, he became a US Postal Service Letter Carrier, retiring a second time in January 2021, after nearly 17 years of public service with the Post Office. Dave was a Life member of the American Legion and the US Army Warrant Officers' Association. He also belonged to the Military Officers Association of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and was a founding member of the National Museum of the US Army. He, along with daughter Jessica, were verified Mayflower Descendants of John Alden & Priscilla Mullins in 2022.

Dave enjoyed attending WNBA Stars basketball games and AHL Rampage hockey games with his daughter, Jessica. He is survived by his wife Debra, daughter Jessica, sister Janet, and her husband, Raymond Pierce of Pittsford, VT (Summer) and Fort Pierce, FL (Winter).