Dave had a way with kids, which started during the child care portion of Family Living in high school. I remember one specific night when we were standing in Westwood waiting for the Christmas Parade to begin. A little boy caught sight of Dave and excitedly pointed him out to his parents and pulled them toward Dave. Dave squatted down to his level and made such a fuss over him. The parents told Dave and me how much this little boy talked about his special friend, Dave. I was so proud of him! He would’ve made such a good dad!
He showed the same caring wherever he went. While he was stationed in the Marshallese Islands we spoke on numerous occasions about how little the children had by U.S. standards, yet how happy they were with whatever they had.
I had sent him a really cool kite to use on those wide-open beaches at Roi Namur. He had flown it creating quite an audience of Marshallese children. It gave him great satisfaction to give the kite to one of the local families to enjoy with the children.
It was for this reason that we made a donation in Dave’s memory to the Marshallese children’s organization, ECCF. I was told that these funds were used to help bring a teacher to one of the remote islands.
I’m sure Dave would be proud!
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