Dave was born September 14, 1962 in Shaker Heights, Ohio and passed away February 15, 2021 in Portland, Oregon.
Always living to the beat of his own drum, David was born at home on the kitchen floor, thereby creating a family legend as soon as he entered the world. He grew up the third child of four (Bob, John, Dave, and Susan) in Shaker Heights, OH. He was lucky to live within a few miles of all of his first cousins, aunts, uncles, and dearly loved Gram Roth. He spent those years juggling an early morning paper route, swim team, Ultimate Frisbee, and always being right in school ;)
The decision to earn both a BS in Electrical Engineering and a BS in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in just four years, meant college was not that enjoyable, but Ultimate Frisbee and a few close friends brought some bright spots. A move to Southern California in 1984 to work for General Dynamics followed. Dave discovered he enjoyed the business side more than the engineering part of his job, so getting an MBA was his next step. At the University of Southern Cal, Dave focused on Finance classes, and played a lot of Tetris and Crystal Quest with his great friend and roommate Gordy. We met in 1988 in the Fall of his second year. Dave was happy that I enthusiastically supported his love for Ultimate Frisbee. After watching him play in an especially rough tournament, I said “you can have my respect or my sympathy when you’re playing Ultimate, but not both.” My understanding came from years of playing soccer, and I repeated that phrase often as Dave broke numerous bones and tore both ACLs over years of playing Ultimate...and he always got more respect than sympathy from me :) After dating just eight months, we got engaged and when I finished my MBA fourteen months later, we got married. Our beautiful wedding was followed by a six week honeymoon in Europe which was the icing on the cake.
Dave and I spent 14 wonderful years in the Bay Area (1990 - 2004), where we found a fabulous group of friends with whom we forged lifetime bonds. Together we shared being newlyweds, buying our first homes, having children, figuring out careers, and learning how to juggle being working parents and still have time for frisbee, skiing, and lots of fun with friends. Dave appreciated making so many amazing memories, and, of course, the highlight of those years was raising Doug and Katherine! Dave and I took turns having stable jobs and joining Silicon Valley start-ups until the Coca-Cola Company bought the start-up I co-founded. Dave was so supportive when I had a great opportunity to move to Atlanta for a job leading Digital Marketing for Coca-Cola; he was game for a new adventure. After seven years in our first house, and seven years in our second in San Mateo, Dave became the “mastermind relocation manager”.
It was hard to leave our Bay Area lifestyle and many friends and family, but Atlanta turned out to be a really good place to raise our children. It was quite a dramatic change to move to the South, but the quality of family life in Atlanta, the good schools and sports, the fun we all had due to my job at Coca-Cola, and our many new friends made it all worthwhile. Dave spent those years remotely doing the Marketing and helping run the business side of a Silicon Valley start up, and of course playing for several good Ultimate Frisbee teams - discovering the benefit of Southern winters and the brutal reality of Atlanta summers. To prevent year-round Frisbee from completely destroying Dave's knees, we added cycling into the mix to save a little wear and tear. Along with cycling with good friends, we spent many years cheering on Kat and Doug and their soccer teams which brought us many years of joy. Not surprising, Dave was Team Manager for both kids while we were in Atlanta, and then for four more years while Kat was in High School. It was in Atlanta where Dave truly became the “home remodel expert” by creating an absolutely amazing new kitchen and building out a fun living and entertaining space leading out to our pool and BBQ area. These new living spaces led to our hosting many, many fun social gatherings, including much-loved tamale-making parties, with friends and their children.
A call from a recruiter about the Chief Marketing Officer position opening at ESPN led me to think, "hmmm." After almost seven years in Atlanta, and more than nine years as head of Digital Marketing for Coca-Cola, I went home and asked Dave if I should go for it. As always, Dave enthusiasticly supported me during the zillion interviews it took to get the job. The only downside was it meant a pretty disruptive 2011 move to New York, which made for the third of our ‘every seven years’ changes. So off we moved to Mamaroneck in Westchester County, about 20 miles north of NYC. This meant big changes for Doug and Kat. Dave could keep his job since he already worked remotely, Kat bravely started a new school in 9th grade, and Doug stayed at his boarding school but had no local friends. Fortunately, we all enjoyed attending ESPN sporting events, the highlights being the X-Games and the Women’s World Cup in Germany. Dave and I took up kayaking in the Long Island Sound, and Dave found his incredible PUFA Ultimate Frisbee family which meant crazy early-morning Frisbee before work...yes, even during NY winters! Dave continued to play Ultimate with these awesome friends for years after we moved, attending the annual New Year's Day games in NY and playing in the Ultimate Frisbee National and World Championships the last couple of years with some of his PUFA teammates.
Living in NY had its fun experiences, but once Kat and Doug were off to college, we didn’t see the need to stick around for more NY winters, so we scooted back to our beloved West Coast in September of 2015. This time we went to Portland, Oregon, an area Dave had discovered on work trips and loved. And, wow, was Dave right. Portland has the perfect balance of diverse natural beauty, vibrant city life, and wonderful people. It was a perfect match for our preferred lifestyle. This time we took “Dave, the mastermind relocation expert” and especially “Dave, the home remodel expert” to a whole new level! We bought a fabulous 107 year old home, right in town, with gorgeous views of Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainier. But that also meant 107 year old bathrooms, a butler’s pantry and a separate, small, poorly redone kitchen, and worn out landscaping. Dave totally rose to the occasion and outdid himself with three new bathrooms, a beautiful new kitchen, and a completely transformed yard with new hardscaping, landscaping, and great gardens! Dave lead on the design and execution and I lead on the look, and together, we took teamwork to a whole new level. Dave definitely could’ve become a successful home remodel contractor, but, by this point, he was also interested in more active investing and advising, so we both joined Oregon Venture Fund.
Neither of us worked full-time for the last two years. Dave had already transitioned to investing/advising, and I became a Corporate Director for Valvoline, Inc and a board member/investor/advisor for some start-ups. That gave us more time to spend hiking with our wonderful Portland friends, exploring the Pacific Northwest, gardening, and discovering great new Portland food carts, restaurants, beer, and Willamette Valley wines. In August of 2020, we bought a bigger beach house in Emerald Isle, NC where we have been going for 24 years, and thus got to start yet another house remodel which is currently in full swing. To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary on June 2, 2020, we had planned great trips to France and then Egypt. We thought about how wonderful the first 30 years of our marriage had been and were looking forward to the next 30 years of being less busy (maybe) and getting to enjoy the fruits of our labors by traveling and spending time with Kat and Doug and all our family and friends. The trips of course didn’t happen, but thank goodness Dave and I did get to spend a lot of time together during this year of COVID, which turned out to be a blessing. And Doug, Kat, and I will always cherish the 10 days we spent together in Emerald Isle for our first Christmas in the new house, making new traditions and memories.
We will continue to share stories of our lives with Dave in the Stories part of this website, and we so, so hope that you will share funny moments, poignant memories, challenges faced together, and just the day to day times you spent with Dave - to help keep his memory alive in all of us.
