- Date Of Death: January 14, 2015
- State: Idaho
Last Saturday afternoon Dave’s earthly life was brought to an abrupt end by a gunman on a shooting spree. This was not Dave’s first acquaintance with tragedy. During his Moscow childhood, his life was nearly ended by fire during a routine ‘trash burning’. After almost a year in local hospital beds, he overheard the doctor inform his folks, Floyd & Louise Trail (they thought I was asleep, he explained) that their badly burned little boy was not going to make it. Dave set out to prove the doctor wrong. While recovering and still confined to the hospital bed, he entertained himself by doing finger exercises “so that my fingers would be strong enough to play the piano when I got out” and developing his ear (and demonstrating his love for cars) by listening to the sounds of car engines through the open hospital window and guessing the make and model. “I asked the nurses to run to the window to confirm my accuracy”. This happy, determined little boy was one of their favorite patients. Happy determination shaped his life over the next 7 decades. While a student at Moscow High, he owned 1,000 fryers and 250 laying hens-delivering eggs by bicycle. His determination won him the National Poultry 4-H award. His zeal was contagious, perhaps genetic, as three of his children also went on to win National 4-H awards. 4-H stimulated his love for other interests ranging from gardening to machinery. He went on to help establish the Mountain View 4-H club and he had his kids raise money for family vacations by selling pumpkins each fall.
