David Isham, the 89-year-old patriarch of Isham Family Farm in Williston, died on December 7 in the farmhouse bedroom next to the one in which he was born, according to his eldest son, Mike Isham. The understated, hardworking lifelong farmer and respected local figure gained a higher profile when he and his wife, Ginger, were featured in an episode of the 2021 Netflix docuseries "My Love: Six Stories of True Love." The series takes viewers all over the world, and the Ishams represent the U.S. in an hourlong episode that follows them through 2019. Mike and his younger brother, Doug, said their father died from complications of dementia. A few scenes in the Netflix episode about the Ishams make it clear that David was starting to experience memory loss. The show directly addressed the realities of aging. In one poignant moment, the couple walk through the farm's sugarbush and David says, "This is where I want my ashes." Mike confirmed that will happen as his father wished. David lived his whole life on the farm. He and Ginger, who survives him, had six children. Mike, now 64, took over the 108-acre conserved former dairy in 2005 and continued the work of his parents in diversifying the operation. He completed the sale of the family farm to his stepson, Dana Kamencik, this summer. The decision to sell outside the direct family upset some Ishams. [content-1] In a written tribute to David, West Virginia filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon, director of the Netflix episode featuring the Ishams, said he "was a dream documentary participant — not because he was eager to be on center stage (he wasn't) or because he performed for us (he didn't) ... Instead, he invited us to slow down, to witness the beauty of his life as it unfolded naturally: tapping maple trees during sugaring season, walking among the fall colors with Ginger, and resting in his favorite recliner." McMillion Sheldon and her team spent one week a month from February 2019 to February 2020 filming the Ishams. Over that time, she said by phone, she got to know them well. In her tribute, she noted that even though David came across as quiet, "he had a playful side" and "dry wit." The retired farmer also taught her to take time to truly listen, she wrote: "He had a way of finding peace in chaos, of grounding himself and…