David Marc Cutler

David Marc Cutler, 66, of Dallas, Texas, passed away too soon on December 12, 2022, surrounded by loving family members, after a courageous three-year battle with cancer. David was born on February 11, 1956, in Lynn, MA, and grew up in Peabody, MA, West Hartford, CT, and Westwood, MA, where he graduated from high school. He is survived by his much-cherished husband of 42 years, James Richard Ovens of Dallas, TX; his mother, Ruth Cutler, of Barnstable, MA; his sister, Carole Cutler Rubin and brother-in-law David Rubin of Arlington, MA; his niece Lilia Rubin of Brooklyn, NY and nephew Jacob Rubin of Waltham, MA; and a host of close and loving friends. He was predeceased by his father, Sidney Cutler.

David attended the University of Massachusetts and received a Bachelor’s degree in History. For the bulk of his career, David worked in retail and marketing both in the Boston area and in Dallas. Early on he enjoyed working directly with customers and often shared humorous stories about his experiences selling women’s shoes; he shifted into a marketing role, which he loved most of all, after moving to Dallas in 1998 when his husband Jim took on a new position there. In his final years–as he shifted into partial retirement–David worked as a patient support provider for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he broke ground—and a few archaic rules–by insisting that patients deserved his time and attention rather than just being processed through the system. Many of those patients and their families loved David and invited him into their lives beyond the hospital sphere.

Everyone who knew David was struck—and drawn in—by David’s qualities of friendliness, guileless joy, humor, and honesty. He made new friends wherever he was, and maintained relationships with many childhood friends into his adult years. He valued and loved his family enormously, and particularly enjoyed annual family gatherings on Cape Cod and in Florida. Along with his husband Jim, David was an avid traveler, especially relishing cruises to exotic destinations.

During the course of his treatment, David participated in several drug trials for emerging new cancer therapies, and in so doing helped advance cancer research so that others might benefit in the future.

David is returning home to Massachusetts where funeral services will be held at the Congregation Sons of Israel Synagogue in Peabody, Massachusetts, with interment at Maple Hill Cemetery in Peabody, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center or the cancer research organization of your choice.