Dave
Dave was born and raised in east St.Paul. Dave attended Eastern Heights Elementary School, Battle Creek Jr. High, and then Harding High School. Dave spent one summer after 6th grade in elementary school going to Johnson High school studying biology. Dave spent several summers in jr. high school going to the Twin City Institute for Talented Youth (TCity). These classes were held at Carlton College, Macalister College, and Augsburg College. One year, he had ground the 8 inch lens and made his own 6 foot telescope. Dave took a variety of advanced classes in High School, and was rewarded by being accepted at the Institute of Technology. The Institute is one of the focused colleges within the University of Minnesota, this one focusing on engineering. Dave was also accepted by KHK, the electrical engineering fraternity and was able to keep on the cutting edge with his employment. Dave put himself through college, and always one to multitask - even before it became fashionable - he earned his way through college by working at Radio Shack, IT consulting, and application programming.
Dave joined the University ballroom dancing in part for fun, in part he was planning ahead to meet "the babes". And yes, that was also part of the plan behind buying his first convertible - a sweet blue Mazda Miata. Jumping ahead to the future, the Miata was replaced by a convertible that was a great machine as well - a BMW Z3 ordered from one of the first shipments to hit Minneapolis.
Another fun part of Dave's life in college and to the present is biking. Dave has been a member of the Twin Cities Bike Club since 1976. He has led rides for the club each year, and for many years was the organizer of their second biggest ride for the public - The 25/50 mile Watermelon ride. The Watermelon ride was on the 4th of July, had the regular signs, permits, police officers, first aid, rest stops with food and concluded with a picnic.
Dave's longest days biking were when he would ride the Paul Bunyon ride, from Minneapolis to Lake Mille Lacs, around the lake and back. That is 202 miles in one day folks. His highest mileage year was 4,127, and he has been a volunteer bike leader for the M.S. ride from Duluth for more than 10 years.
But, most importantly for fun and joy was Dave's dog Hugo. Hugo came to be a friend for Dave the very day his dad died. As Dave was getting on the freeway to go home after his dad had died at the hospital - there was a dog on the entrance. Dave pulled over and met a sweet, intelligent, steadfast dog, a boarder collie mutt. A classic, loyal dog companion for the next ten years.
Back to College, Dave also saw half of many modern dance performances at Northup auditorium. Why only half? Well, he was a member of the trained Northrop first aid corp. The members of the corp were assigned two seats in the auditorium. At each performance two members saw the first act, while two members were at the first aid station, and at intermission they switched places.
As an engineering student Dave saw the benefits of using programs on the computer to solve engineering problems early on. His creative problem solving was helpful as he began doing independent computer consulting work as another way to pay for college and the house he had bought on the edge of the University neighborhood.
His house is again a gem of a house, it was built in 1910, with LOTS of woodwork and some leaded glass. When Dave bought it the paint job was the colors of the University of Minnesota - Maroon with Gold trim! Ugh! And the kitchen and bathroom were "condemned". Dave became a "Jack Of All Trades" and needless to say some of the many things he did was fix the woodwork, install new plumbing, and re-wire the place, for computer networks, television, as well as electricity. There are four televisions on the three floors, all attached to the same "hub" of VCR/CD player. Dave has worked at a variety of places that have interested him, or given him various opportunities to learn and try out new skills. He has worked for Medtronic, AEC Engineering, Michael Foods, 3M and now Symantec Software.
As for new things - every week has something for Dave these days. Dave has taken on 30 months of school! He is working on his Master of Business and Administration for Regis University through a distance learning program. Dave has six months down and 24 to go. It is back to the student life of reading, writing, and watching the videos that come in the mail. It has changed the nature of his days; he has given up bicycling and workouts and now works all evening and weekends on his MBA. Dave is still eating dinner with Mindy, but then it is upstairs for working on assignments. It will be a long haul, but nice to have this type of option for learning. Dave finished his MBA in 2004.
With all the free time he had after finishing the MBA, he became more active in the professional groups he belongs to. He as been most active in IEEE and PMI. In 2007, he became the chair to the IEEE Twin Cities Section and the local Engineering Management Chapter. He has used these opportunities to continue developing and learning. Looking to share and help others, Dave would organize workshops and meeting topics on information he thought would be valuable to others and himself.
Now, it is time to finish up with another paragraph on dogs. Hugo was Dave's first dog as an adult. Dave's family had had dogs from time to time as he was growing up, but this was his dog. As Hugo got older Dave got him a puppy from a friend. This dog was Jack, a German shepherd mutt. Then, some months after Hugo died Dave got Jack a young Shelby. Shelby was a year old collie mutt with a bad hip that Dave picked out at the animal shelter. And two big dogs were enough until one Sunday morning . . . .
. . . Mindy was going alone to church and there along Summit Ave, a major street in St. Paul, was a black lab puppy running up to each jogger that passed his way to get some attention. He was a self reliant dog - just making the best of his Sunday morning. But, Mindy sensed no owner around on this busy street. She pulled over, opened the car door and said "Come here pup". And into the car he bounded. And that is only the first of many tales that can be told about the youngest and most independent dog of the household.
