Julian Dent Eiland

Julian Dent Eiland (“JD” to his friends, and “Dent” to his family) passed away at home in Albuquerque on November 20, 2018, age 101 years and two months. JD was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 20, 1917.

In the early 1930s, the family joined the westward migration resulting from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl and struck out for California. They stopped to regain financial and physical health in Albuquerque, where they spent three years. JD graduated from Albuquerque High School in 1934 and attended the University of New Mexico for one year before the family resumed its journey to California. In California he attended UCLA, opened a gas station with his older brother, and worked as a jack-of-all-trades in a cabinetmaker’s shop. Most significantly, he met a beautiful young woman, Mary Kay Thiele, at a party in Pasadena. After a short courtship, they eloped to Wickenburg, Arizona. A son, Michael, followed a bit over nine months later (people were counting). Despite dire initial predictions, this marriage of profound mutual devotion lasted 73 years until Mary Kay’s death in 2012.

JD was a member of the Greatest Generation. He was drafted into the Army in World War II, did his duty, and returned home to build America. JD worked as a financial executive in the aerospace industry, eventually retiring as comptroller of the Missile and Space Division of General Dynamics before opening his own CPA practice. That lasted until a start-up electronics firm, Kentron, in Dallas called him to be vice president and CFO. Following his second retirement, he, Mary Kay, and JD’s mother, moved back to Albuquerque after an absence of 50 years. His proudest accomplishment during his years in Albuquerque was establishing and developing Sandia Presbyterian Church from the ground up. Mary Kay was charter member number one, and JD charter member number two of this thriving church. He was also a member of the board of the New Mexico Zoological Society, and he and Mary Kay were active in various charitable and community activities.

JD was a man of great dignity and ironclad integrity. He lived a life of service, marked by devotion to faith, family, and friends. JD was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Kay; and daughters, Julia Kay and Mary Cecile (Marcy). He is survived by his son, Colonel Michael Eiland, US Army retired; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and two great-great grandchildren.

A celebration of JD’s life will be held Tuesday, November 27, 2018, 11:00 a.m. at Sandia Presbyterian Church, 10704 Paseo Del Norte NE.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Freedom From Hunger of Davis, CA, or Sandia Presbyterian Church of Albuquerque.