When my dad was a teenager, I heard stories about 'Frecks car' that they bought with their crap game winnings.   I heard about how my dad took the car apart, and put it back together. 
I heard about how he survived his time in the army in Labrador, fixing stuff.

He fixed everything in our house. He kept appliances alive for far longer than expected,  and perhaps long than my mom wanted (thinking about that dryer :-). 

My aunt and grandma would always drop off whatever appliance was broken - a hairdryer, a curler, etc. for him to fix. 

He was always under a car tinkering. He kept all of our cars intact. He knew everything about my first Honda civic, even noticing the different hood than the original, although i never openly admitted about the accident I had where i had to replace the hood. 

When Mark and i bought our house, he set up a workbench in the basement - for Mark.  Its on my life's list to clear it off and organize it better. And learn how to fix things.  

My brother Tom calls it 'the knack'.  He got 'the knack' I think, and goes on to fix things and build things himself. Somehow the passion didn't get passed to me, but i always respect those who have 'the knack'.  

My mom has given away many of his workbench tools to places like Habitat for Humanity, and neighbors, and each of us kids.  Hopefully 'the knack' will live on in many of us. :-) 

      Thought of you on your 87th birthday today and still cherish all the great times, trips, and memories we had during our years together.

                                                 Love you always,
                                                               Joan 

Dave and Joan joined us on our boat many times over the years, it was always a great day even if it rained and we cought no fish. I uploaded a great picture we found of Dave and Nicholas taken many years ago. It shows Dave's love so much!
The file was a pdf, I hope it loaded. If not I will re-scan as a jpg. 
Hope all are doing well. 
Grace, Parke and Nicholas