David was born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He enjoyed a childhood full of fun, curiosity and exploration. His mother taught him to be the kind gentleman he was and he learned his early dancing skills from her. He always loved his daddy's red hair. His lifelong interest in building, creating and figuring out how things worked started in the basement shop of his childhood home with precious time spent with his grandfather. He grew up in the fifties and always loved the music, dancing and cars from that era. The red 57 Chevy Bel Air was his favorite car. He graduated from Greenwich High School. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut, Western Illinois University, Southern Oregon College and Oregon Technical Institute. He served his country proudly in the U. S. Air Force. He held several different jobs and titles in his lifetime, but our favorite was being our daddy. He worked for Douglas Aircraft as a mechanical engineer during the development of the Saturn 5 (Saturn V). He worked in sales and as a realtor. He was a general contractor and designed most of the houses he built in the greater Charlotte area. He ended his working career as "Mr. Topsoil, Mr. Mulch & Mr. Manure", and had the best topsoil in the south! He was always ahead of his time in energy conservation, going green, solar energy and creating sustainable energy. He built an electric bike in high school and drove an electric car over 40 years ago! He could design and build anything you could dream with precision and perfection. He made most of his own equipment. He married our mother, Teralee Shaw, in May of 1965 and raised his 3 girls, Kim, Christy & Michelle in the house he and Teralee built. Some of our cherished memories were the "bear rides" down the hall on his back (last one on was the winner!), picking out the annual Christmas trees from the woods behind our house, and adventurous cross country trips all over the US in a truck bed camper. We are pretty sure we have visited every water wheel in existence! He always had a heart for animals and even let us bring 3 chickens from Oregon back on one of our trips. We had dogs, cats, pet cows, a pony horse and a bullfrog. He loved lakes, rivers and the ocean and would body surf for hours on beach trips. He had a great sense of humor and enjoyed playing good natured tricks on us. We are not sure if his high school chemistry teacher appreciated that trait after his "trick" blew up the lab! Our daddy was saved and became a born again Christian when we were young. From that day on he loved the Lord with all of his heart, soul and mind. He was especially fond of the 23rd Psalm. Daddy taught us to love nature and appreciate the beautiful things that God created for us to enjoy and draw us closer to Him. Sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, babbling creeks, flowers, majestic mountains and the twinkling stars in the sky. We still share beautiful pictures with each other of these things to this day. He taught us to see the good in people and to look beyond the surface and into the heart. He served as a lay speaker in his church, he built our church parsonage, served on many local and global mission trips. He was a youth leader, started Love's Mission and loved to perform in church drama presentations. He was a participant of the early contemporary Christian movement in Charlotte and across the Carolinas with the Gathering Place and the Son Festival. If the church was open, we were there. He taught us to think outside the box and see beauty and possibilities in things that others did not see. He was always able to find a heart in a rock, shell or walnut hull. He would see grandiose images in the clouds. He could create something amazing from what other people considered to be junk. He demanded perfection in his work and always expected us to do our best at anything we did. He modeled a good work ethic. He fostered creativity and never wanted us to be afraid to try anything. If we didn't succeed, it was okay, he still loved us and we could always approach it from another angle and try again. He was always our cheerleader! He loved family and loved his children and grandchildren. He cherished holidays and special events when we could all get together. His farm was very special to him and he loved to create scavenger or treasure hunts there, go fishing and give tractor rides when his grandchildren came to visit. He loved to go to football games with them and also watch them play ball. He attended numerous dance and piano recitals, art shows, birthday parties (often dressed to go with the theme) and graduations. His girls and grandchildren brought joy to his heart. He was very proud of each one of them. He loved to dabble in the garden and was especially fond of growing different types of berries in his amazing topsoil. Our father is now in Heaven with his Lord and Savior. We thank God for his time with us and cannot wait to see him again. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 We cherish the memories we have with our father and hope to carry on his legacy of "knowing CHRIST and making HIM known" until we join them both in Heaven.