David (Dave) was born in Framingham, MA, to Roland and Jeannette Avery, who taught him to love family and live a full life. He and his loving wife, Virginia (Ginny), an award-winning watercolorist and art teacher, who predeceased him, raised three daughters, Lory, Lucia and Allison, who followed their parents’ creative ways. Along with their husbands, Stuart, Dan and Dick, the three daughters cared for both parents in their later years of life, making it possible for them to spend time with their grandchildren, James, Jenny and Ben Grinsell, and Morgan, Galen and Noah Wilbur.
Dave and Ginny met on a double blind date, through which they formed a lifelong friendship with the Green Family clan, who summered up the hill from Ginny’s family home in Manomet, MA. Her family farm, complete with cranberry bogs and blueberry bushes, a pond and cliff-sheltered beach, was at the heart of their family and creative life. Ginny’s parents, Horace and Emelyn, hosted clambakes, barn art shows and family picnics with produce raised on the farm.
Dave was an accomplished cabinetmaker, trained at Wentworth Institute of Technology and Fitchburg State College. He applied his skills to a wide range of projects from housing construction and rehab to fine cabinetry. Dave and Ginny raised their girls in Marshfield, MA, where he was involved in two passion projects: working on the Hatch Mill restoration for which he created a working model of the saw mill, and public demonstrations in the working Blacksmith Shop at the Isaac Winslow House. He was also active in many of the local art societies such as the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, MA, where he volunteered and hung artwork for many years. Through the North River Arts Society the couple formed a circle of friends that brought joy and creativity to their lives.
Dave was able to fix anything and every tool in his extensive workshop was improved upon to his satisfaction. Always looking for ways to make things more effective and efficient, he was a problem solver with a keen eye for precision. In his later years he created a series of candlestick parquetry tables which he sold and gifted. His quick wit and dry sense of humor brought a lightness to time spent with him. He loved a good story, and managed to turn his time in the Army during the Korean War into a series of adventures in Germany, including time on the Army tennis and ski teams.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Manomet, MA on Saturday, November 18, 2023. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the South Shore Art Center Cohasset, MA.
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