SHERIDAN, MONT. — David Rossiter was a big, strong guy, but also a kind young man who loved helping others, loved his community and family and loved life, family and friends said Sunday as they laid Rossiter to rest in his hometown.
Rossiter, 25, was shot twice Nov. 2 in Lakewood following an altercation along a ramp off West Sixth Avenue with an off-duty sheriff’s deputy. Lakewood police were questioning Daniel Montana Jr., 49, an Arapahoe County deputy, in the death.
Montana has not been charged. Police and prosecutors said they are still investigating.
A Jefferson County coroner’s report released Friday found that Montana shot Rossiter twice from some distance away, rather than from point-blank range.
But family and friends who came to remember Rossiter on Sunday said they wanted to focus on his admirable, if far too short, life.
They recalled through a ceremony filled with tears and laughter a young man who always had a big smile that was contagious to all around him.
Former Montana Gov. Judy Martz, who presented Rossiter his Eagle Scout badge several years ago, remembered Rossiter as a “gentle giant” of a young man who loved coaching.
She said Rossiter’s goodness showed by the way he lived his life.
“Think of something good and call it a David moment,” Martz said.
A slide show illustrated Rossiter’s happy nature. One showed a tow- headed boy in his underwear. Another showed a somewhat older kid in his Boy Scout uniform, while others captured him in his Sheridan Panthers football uniform or on hunting adventures.
His smile filled every image.
The funeral was bittersweet for this close-knit community of about 700 residents.
Sheridan just won its semifinal football game in class C the day before, and Rossiter was always a proud Panther who had made the state all-star team. His three brothers wore football jerseys to the funeral at Sheridan Elementary School.
He remained a Panther throughout his life and forever will be, Martz said.
“He told his folks, ‘I’m coming home if the Panthers make the playoffs,’ and he did,” she said. “He’s safe now.”
