I will always think of my father as the most softhearted of our family. It was not always to his advantage, and sometimes got him into trouble, but it was at the core of what made him such a special person.

Oddly two of my clearest memories of my father bookend my brief marriage many years ago.
I will always clearly see him tearing up as he took my hand to walk me down the aisle at my wedding and telling me how proud he was to be my father- not just that day, but every day. 

A few years later, I will also always remember him asking me only one question when I told my parents I needed to get a divorce : "Do you love him?" When I said no, rather than trying to talk me in our out of anything or addressing the dreary practicalities he simply said, "Well that's the right thing then, love's what matters" (It was). It took a huge burden off me, and I was grateful then as now that he had such a heart, and loved us so.

We took the family on an short overnight campout on the long trail when our children were pre-teens.  Ben had a solo tent, the girls were together in a second tent, and Dave and I shared a third one.  Dave slept in his sleeping bag wearing tee shirt and undershorts.  Unfortunately, other campers before us had left empty tuna cans in the camp fireplace.  During the night we were awakened by lots of rattling and banging of the cans against the stones of the firepit.  Andrea cried out, "There's a bear."  Dave got up, put on his hiking boots, grabbed a walking stick he had used during the previous day, and went out of the tent to see what was going on.  The bear turned into a porcupine, also unwanted in our tent site, so Dave, in his tee shirt and undershorts, proceeded to chase the porcupine several hundred feet through the woods, striking at it with his stick until the walking stick broke, leaving only about six inches of it in his hand.  He then returned to the tent, successfully having driven away the porcy.

I probably wouldn't be here without Dave, and his lovely wife, Maryjane.  You see, it was Dave and Maryjane who set up my mother and father on a blind date.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

Back in the 1950s, my father, Etienne Aberth, met Dave at MIT in Boston, where they played rugby, and studied engineering on the side.  Meanwhile, my mother, Sally Stephens, met Maryjane at Boston University.  For some reason, Dave and Maryjane (who already were dating) thought Etienne and Sally would make a good couple, and they set them up on a blind date.  At first, Cupid was not cooperative, because Etienne and Sally did not hit it off!  But soon, the wisdom of Dave and Maryjane's matchmaking bore its fruit, and a wedding took place on June 27, 1959, in Rochester, N.Y.

Attached is a photo of Dave and Maryjane toasting the happy couple, from my parents' wedding album.  Dave stood out from the crowd by wearing a white suit, the only man at the wedding to do so, as far as I can tell.  This says a lot about Dave, because it was a pretty daring thing to do, especially with all that drinking going on!  And from the picture, it seems that he managed not to spill anything on that white suit!

I'll always be thankful to Dave and Maryjane, for introducing Sally and Etienne to each other, and thus making it possible for me to be born.  From the expression on Dave's face, it's clear that he knew how to have a good time, and he makes you want to step back into the picture frame and see what all the fun was about.  When my father passed away, 26 years ago now, Dave was distraught, and now I am too at Dave's passing.  He was a great friend to my father, and a good friend to me.  He will be missed.  Travel well, Dave.

John Aberth
Roxbury, VT