Jeep Fest 2026 Recap Dave Eilers Memorial

Great Shot by Bob Christy!

Display set up and ready to welcome folks to Jeep Fest 2026!

Dave's Wife Ann and his Sister Kim.

This was a giant effort by a lot of people near and dear to Dave and Ann.

I guess for any new folks eWillys was founded and run by Dave Eilers for over 20 years, in late 2024 Dave stepped aside but was always available to help get the site back up and running and was key on the transition once we got the site onto the new Host.

Dave was a super talented person in so many aspects both inside and outside of the Willys world, we were lucky enough that he shared his knowledge, passion and provided so much research to the Willys Community over the years it really is an amazing body of work. It is an honor to be able to maintain the archives of eWillys and push forward the site for new folks to find and explore. We lost Dave to Cancer in late June 2026.

One of Dave's Jeeps was "Patterson" a red 1956 DJ, which he took on the amazing 2017 Alaska or Rust road trip that retraced the Alaska Highway and in part the previous trip taken many decades ago The Pineapple Express which is a whole different story, that was back in the 1950's. Along the trip many stickers and signatures were added to Patterson at various road stops and media events that were planned along the way, it was a big hit, as a result there are various signatures all over the rig that have stood the test of time.

Awesome Scoutpilot Decal by the Great Roberto Flores!

So many great Decals, Walck's 4WD!!!

Alaska or Rust Decal

The PNFWDA is a Throwback Decal of one of Dave's Fathers Jeep Clubs growing up.

Classic Roberto Flores eWillys Bear!

Patterson was gifted from Dave and Ann to Bob and Mindy Christy, they are the ideal caretakers for such a great ride, and it will have a great new journey with them. If you are reading this today Sept 12th, 2026, and attended the Willys Fall Reunion or doing so Today, you have already seen the Memorial in person as it was slated to visit there for that event. You can catch it at the Spring Reunion as well and check it out in person.

Patterson Arrives on Joe DeYoungs Trailer.

Bob's First Ride in Patterson, off the trailer and into the bay to dry off.

Drying off Patterson and getting cleaned up from the ride over from WI.

Getting prepped to head into the show.

Jerry and Bob heading in with Patterson

Bob checking out Patterson on arrival!

Patterson has arrived!

I was able to head out to Jeep Fest for Thursday and Friday, the setup days and meet Bob, Mindy, Monica, Scott Gilbert, Jerry, and his crew who run Jeep Fest while we were awaiting the arrival of the Guest of Honor Patterson.

Patterson had a very special chauffer in that to get all the way from Washington state to Ohio it made its way via Wisconsin, Joe DeYoung happened to be out on the West Coast and had room on his trailer for Patterson and brought it back to his shop in Madison, WI. While there he did some clean up work and got it a bit more operational for Bob and Mindy. It was very nice to be able to meet Joe as well at Jeep Fest during the arrival and initial set up of the display.

I headed out Friday AM to spend some time with my Parents and oldest Sister not too far in MI while Jerry and his crew assisted, Bob, Mindy, Monica, Scott, Joe and all sorts of other helpers get the display set up perfect.

Especially special was that Dave’s Wife Ann and Dave's Sister Kim were able to visit Jeep Fest and see Patterson, meet the team, and crew who set up the display. They were able to spend a lot of time together and over the course of Jeep Fest share many special stories and history of Patterson and eWillys and of course share how special Dave was to so many.

I am very thankful for the work that Scott, Bob, Mindy, Monica, Joe, Jerry, Roberto Flores did the artwork and shared all his talents, what a team effort. Ann and Kim for travelling out to Ohio to meet everyone. I am sure there are others who put time into the Memorial, it was very well done, a lot of behind-the-scenes work was performed to pull this off. To those who purchased shirts, hats, and decals, signed the banner, stopped into the show, helped in any way, or will be doing those things in the future, Thank You. OffRoad Outfitter hosted the Shirt, Decal, Hat sale, and they were very gracious to provided their support to everyone hosting the sale items then managing the production and shipping of them, Thank You.

We were able to start some new signatures on Patterson in support of Bob and Mindy and wish them the best of luck with Patterson. One day will probably come where these signatures and decals will be removed and Patterson will hopefully made into its best new version of what it needs to be, these Willys and Jeeps are meant to be enjoyed and the history passed on but they are best used and put to the test out on the roads and in the wild. But for right now we are just thankful to be able to spend some time together and reflect on how precious our time is here and remember that we can all make an enormous impact by just being ourselves and supporting each other and sharing our talents.

Dave touched so many of our lives and continues to do so and we are blessed to be able to share in all of our friendships and stories and pass them on to the next generation, so that they can be influenced to start their new adventures and hopefully with a little bit of luck includes some old iron!

2017 Alaska or Rust Crew! Dave in the Drivers Seat.