Dave Rave was born June 29, 1955. He passed away October 12, 2011 after a 3 ½ year courageous battle with cancer. A lifelong Seattle resident, Dave was an original who touched many lives. He constantly developed and maintained friendships from childhood to the present and he had scores of people who considered Dave their “best friend”. He maintained active contacts with hundreds of people. Verizon told him it was rare to be among both the heaviest users of both texts and of voice calls.
Dave was always on the go, never known to take a nap and put about 25,000 miles a year on his car, mostly in the Metro area. Friends learned not to get in his car unless you were prepared to have “lunch with a couple of stops” turn into a 3 hour experience. Like Norm of “Cheers” fame, wherever Dave went people were excited to see him-even on his one trip to Europe he was quite a hit “across the pond.” As a younger man he had all the fun toys to play with, maybe not unlike Charlie from 2 and ½ men. Although often late, throughout his life he felt it important to show up or do what you said you were going to do and he felt that people wouldn’t ask you to do something if it wasn’t important. He rarely took “no” for an answer, especially if he was offering you something like a bite of his food, good or bad, whether you were hungry or not!
His generosity to all was unmatched to the point we considered that he probably had the florist on retainer. He loved to shop, daily if possible. A very giving person even when ill, it was important that everyone met everyone else and that all were offered refreshments. The goody drawer at his home was famous. It was always stocked with many exotic varieties of licorice obtained at Husky Deli, online or elsewhere. For those doing their own research “you can’t really beat Good and Plenty.” Dave was an excellent cook, a famously stylish dresser whether with Kangol hats, or matching shoes, watch bands and belts, Dave could always pull it off with a certain style that was all his own.
Dave was raised in North Seattle with his brothers Mike, Rick and Tom. Dave attended Viewlands Elementary, Thompson Junior High and Ingraham High School. He worked as a crab fisherman for 15 years in Alaska. For those who are fans of Deadliest Catch, he said the boats are much safer now than then. Dave had a long career as a real estate agent with Windermere Real Estate having clients such as the Canadian Consulate and members of the Seattle Sonics organization. For the last 10+ years he served on the Windermere Foundation with a strong interest in helping families with needy kids by working with caseworkers at the local schools, with his target school being Viewlands Elementary.
Nobody was better with kids. To all of his friends’ kids, Dave was the “Uncle.” He always seemed to have the kids in his corner. People thought this was because Dave was a kid at heart, and maybe he was. He coached 4th and 5th grade basketball at St. Johns for a time, where he always took the teams with losing records and turned them around into winning teams. He showed them HOW to win and to do so with grace. Dave was an outstanding basketball player, scored the 100th point in the first 100 point game at Thompson Jr high, was on the JR varsity at Ingraham High and was always the “go to” guy in a scoring situation. He played for a time with the practice team for the Seattle Rain before they became the Storm. While in Jr High he was voted the MVP one year in the Catholic Youth Organization for Basketball. With sports Dave was one of those blessed with a natural ability. Over the last 15 years, you could find him out at the golf range or on the course, playing the game he fell in love with. On his third round out after 20 years of not playing he hit a hole-in-one on the third hole. Most golfers play a lifetime without getting this, but to Dave it seemed effortless.
Dave was a longtime Sonics season ticket holder and very avid fan and also collected Basketball Cards. He was an exceptional guitarist and collected left handed guitars, mostly Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters. His musical favorites included Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones. During his illness he got a tattoo which included some of his loves including a guitar, a basketball, his cat ‘Licorice’, the Rolling Stones’ Tongue and his sobriety date.
Dave was active in AA and NA and served on the International Committees for NA. He was always lighthearted on most everything but about his ‘clean’ time he was very serious. At the time of his passing he had over 27 years of Clean and Sober living, or put another way, over 10,000 continuous days. He would take newcomers into his home often saying ”I have a pal staying over for a few days.” We knew what this meant. A humble man, he was never afraid to call them as he saw them, or use his razor sharp humor to illuminate a situation.
Dave spent his last days at the Bailey Boushay House and loved it there. While packing up his things, janitors, cooks, guards, nurses and other support staff continued to stop by. They all commented how much he had brought camaraderie to the entire place that they had never before experienced. They said how much they were going to miss him. So are we all.
Dave is survived by his Brothers Rick, Tom and Mike and newphews and nieces Jesse, Alima, Sarah and Colin, his kitties Oprah and Licorice and his many close friends.
There will be a visitation/viewing at Bleitz Funeral Home in Fremont, 316 Florentia St, Seattle, WA 98109 on Thursday October 27, 2011 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and a memorial service at Calvary Fellowship Church 23302 56th Ave W., Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday October 29th. The memorial service will be followed by a potluck reception at the same location.
Remembrances in Dave’s memory can be made to Bailey Boushay House, 2720 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98112 or the Run to Win Foundation, 7907 212th St. SW, Suite 206 Edmonds, WA 98026
"If you would like to help with church setup, food preparation or consult on what to bring please contact MerriLynn at 206-370-1573 or [email protected] or Ross at [email protected]" 206-276-3187.
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