David Rigler was a creative, wise, warm, and extraordinarily thoughtful man. He was a natural engineer and technologist with a wealth of knowledge in many diverse fields.  As a deeply caring humanist, he volunteered his time and thoughts to help others and be engaged with people. As a self-learner, he was a modern Renaissance man with a lifelong curiosity and thirst for information and knowledge. All his life, he was a progressive activist and and supporter of civil rights.

David was part of that ‘greatest generation’.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1921 the son of Romanian Jewish immigrants, and he came of age  during the Great Depression and WWII. His mother, Sophie, was educated, strong-willed, and a classically trained violinist, fluent in 9 languages. His father, Bernard, was a soft spoken, self-educated, and self-made business man.

As a child, David taught himself about electricity, electronics and mechanical things by taking apart phones, cameras, and watches. In high school he excelled at the classes he liked and was content to ignore the rest. He remembered and used high school French and German, algebra, trig, and calculus throughout his life. He loved chemistry, and as a high school “hacker”, he blew up the chemistry lab more than once. In high school, he would cut class to listen to Benny Goodman and other musicians of that time.

He served in the Panama Canal Zone during WWII, helping to develop and install early radar stations.  He learned Spanish, explored areas of Guatemala and El Salvador, and took photos of the local residents.

Returning to the states to attend college on the GI Bill, David graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Ohio University and received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan. His career as a child psychologist included a 7 year stint developing multi-year life studies at the University of Colorado in Denver, 3 years doing  grant review at at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, and 14 years as Chief Pediatric Psychologist at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles with an appointment as Professor of Psychology at USC.

David met his life-long love, Marilyn, at Ohio University. They were married in 1948.  Always inseparable, they would have celebrated their 65th anniversary this year.

David and Marilyn retired and moved to Santa Cruz in 1983. He used his talents in woodworking, electrical work and plumbing to design and then serve as general contractor to supervise building their home.

 
The couple also quickly immersed themselves in the community. At Temple Beth El, they revived and grew the Jewish Film Festival. They worked with US SERVAS, a peace and travelers’ organization, served on their national board, and helped create their first website. David was radio station KUSP’s part-time engineer for Marilyn’s radio interview hour, and served on their board. He taught computer literacy at the Santa Cruz Adult School and helped found the Senior Computer Center of Santa Cruz. David also served on the Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Commission.

Always armed with a camera, David was an avid photographer.  He started 80 years ago as a child with a Kodak Brownie and the darkroom, transitioning in recent years to a Nikon digital SLR and Photoshop. He took tens of thousands of excellent photos in his lifetime.

David died peacefully April 4, 2014 surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Marilyn, children Mark (Judi), Joel (Celsa) and Sara (Andrew), his grandchildren Sumi, Isaac, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Samuel, and Talya, his great grandchild, Huxley.  He was dearly loved by many people. We will miss him forever.

Donations may be sent in his honor to Temple Beth El (Aptos), The Southern Poverty Law Center, or Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

A memorial website has been created in his honor and tribute and photos can be uploaded to that site:
"http://David-Rigler.ForeverMissed.com"