Dakota Daniel Mcgee

Dakota McGee was born in Greeley Colorado on September 29th, 1995 to his loving parents Edwin Leroy and Debra Sue (Amos) McGee, Jr.  In his adult years Dakota was a resident of Iliff, Colorado and lived with his dear friend Bob Suarez, his dogs Minnie and Pearl, and cats Kitty Boy Nuet and Rusty.  One thing is for certain, he had such a strong love and connection to all animals, which was evident with his job at the Bow Wow Barn.  Dakota never met a stranger and became one of the bright lights in our lives until his sudden passing on November 13th, 2023 at 28 years old.  The world seems a little dimmer now, but Dakota’s memory will live on.  He had a larger-than-life personality and was able to make friends wherever he went.

Dakota spent most of his early life in Wray Colorado and after the death of his mother at the age of seven he lived with his grandparents Dick and Lynne Amos.  He attended Wray high school where he participated in all sports but his ultimate love was basketball.  This was where he started to develop a true passion for sports until he graduated in 2014.  He was a former football, basketball, baseball and track coach for many organizations and high schools in the surrounding communities.  He was a sports director at 98.3 KAT Country where he could be heard on the radio providing commentary on many of the sporting activities here in Northeastern Colorado. He was also a basketball referee for the Colorado Highschool Activities Association and always looked forward to that part of the year when he could hit the courts again.  Dakota’s ultimate love was being a mentor to young kids and athletes.  He was extremely passionate and professional whenever he would speak to young athletes and always went above and beyond to make each and every person he spoke to feel important and special.

One of Dakota’s biggest passions was the weather.  He was well known in Northern Colorado for his weather and storm updates, including several storm highlights on the local TV news broadcasts in the Denver metro area.  Dakota was a member of the Big Dawg Northeast Colorado Storm Chasers and Texoma Storm Trackers. These communities meant so much to Dakota, and he developed many friendships and brotherhoods along the way. Dakota was well known for posting pictures to his social media platforms of anything in the sky.  Some of the most beautiful sunset pictures any of us have ever seen came from Dakota’s Facebook posts, and it is something I know we can all agree we will miss immensely. Dakota was also known for posting his food diaries on Facebook.  He absolutely loved cooking, and made all his friends and family jealous of his delicious meals.

Later in life fishing became his solace. Any time Dakota would ponder life, you could find him near a body of water with his friends trying to make the catch of his life.  He took pride in every fish he caught and would even post his celebratory pictures for all of us to see. This was where he could make sense out of life and felt the most at peace.  Dakota has now found a place where he can rest eternally.

Dakotas was proceeded in death by:

Mother and father – Edwin LeRoy McGee and Debra Sue McGee (Amos), Grandmother-Charlene Counce (Bullard), Aunt Shari Counce, Uncle Bob Fiedler, Aunt Calista McGee, Uncle Tom McGee, Aunt Cathy Greene

Dakota is succeeded by:

Grandparents Dick and Lynne Amos. Aunt Tessa Walker and husband Brandon, kids Halle, Kendyl and Knox Oestman. Uncle Thomas Barnett and wife Kara Barnett and child Maren. Aunt Cindy Counce (Fiedler), Cousin Travis Fiedler and kids Jonathan, Jayde, Eave and Brody. Aunt Brenda Berning and wife Janet Coderre, Uncle Mark Berning and wife Debra Berning, Cousin Casey and wife Sarah Berning, children Ethan, Piper and Emma. Cousin Kendra Berning and partner Michael Kyle, child Payton. Cousin Eli Counce. Sisters, Shannon McGee and Lisa McGee, Uncle Calvin Greene. Friend Bob Suarez and an expansive network of friends that came to be part of his family.

Funeral services were held at the Kitzmiller Auditorium, 30074 Co. Rd. 35, Wray, Colorado on Monday, November 20, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. with Pastor Curtis Taylor officiating.

Memorials may be made to the Dakota McGee Memorial Fund for Storm Chasers Community, c/o First Pioneer National Bank, 145 W. 4th Street, Wray, Colorado 80758.

Schmidt-Jones Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.