David Lawrence Kroupa

He was fierce. He was funny. He was so smart and stubborn and loyal. He was a man of Honor who always tried to do the right thing. A loving husband, father, brother, grandfather, stepfather, son, cousin, friend, coach, mentor, Wingman…

David loved telling people he was born in Brooklyn, in Coney Island Hospital, and that the nurses were always coming in to look at the baby with the fiery red hair. His mother, Beverly Jan Kroupa, and late father, Lawrence “Captain Larry” Kroupa, moved the family from Brooklyn to East Islip, before settling in South Florida with David and his brothers Troy (1986) and Todd.

An All-Star Cross Country Runner of the Year for Coconut Creek High School in 1975 - and Captain of the team - David excelled, and after a gap year attending Hargrave Military Academy, in Virginia, entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and represented The Academy with pride as part of their Track and Field teams. Graduating ‘With Merit’ in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Resource Management and a minor in Engineering, David proudly received his commission as Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, earning the Navy Commendation Medal, and served his country with honor until his discharge, always committed to the Corps’ motto: Semper Fidelis.

He began a thirty-five-year business career which took him all over Florida, and most of the country, pairing his business acumen and competitive spirit with his love of all things athletic. But running was his true passion, winning countless races (5Ks, marathons, and everything in-between), once coaching the South Florida Leukemia Team-in-Training, and competing in almost every state, including Alaska and Hawaii. He became a triathlete, and then a duathlete, and then after his calves gave out and “almost 150,000 miles on these legs” as he liked to say, he became a competitive cyclist, riding thousands of miles…and he was almost home.

“Grieve not…nor speak of me with tears…but laugh and talk of me as though I were beside you. I loved you so…’twas heaven here with you.”