Amy I think of you often and hope you are doing well! Thank you for reaching out to us. I have many good memories of Fr Dave. I loved his homilies as they put me at peace. I always wonder if there is any possibility that he made a list of the books that he used for his homilies. He was usually holding the book during his homilies! Anyways, I think it would be awesome to read some of the books he used! He was a great speaker and priest.
I do have a funny memory of the golf cart ride@! He told us to hold on to our hair so I grabbed Kathy's head of hair as he put the pedal to the metal. We thought we were gonna fall off so were laughing our heads off!!
I am grateful to have known him when other churches in the area were hoping he was coming to their parishes back in 2004 when our family moved closer to family and Carroll.
Please stay in touch with us.
Donna Herrin
Those last two weekends in August will always live in my heart. We told stories, sorted through thousands of photographs and boxes of memorabilia. We prayed and ate and watched TV. But the most precious time was those last two Masses one weekend at IC and the other at Ascension. They took quite a toll on Duff but AFTER Mass, in the greeting space he greeted, chatted with, had his picture taken with every single person who wanted him - always with that wonderful smile.
As we remember you on your heavenly birthday, we have lots of loving memories in our hearts! There are no such things as “chance happenings” and we believe that God placed you in the right place at the right time to be an angel in our lives. You are filled with the Holy Spirit and God is good, always. Thank you for being there for our baptisms, confessions, first communions, confirmations, weddings, anointing of our sick, and the funerals. Your comfortable smile and gentle words provided the love, compassion, and tenderness to guide our family through difficult, happy, and challenging times in our lives.
We are thankful that God placed you in the lives of so many families, like ours, and we are happy that you are with Him and all the angels who visited us in our daily walk in life. We know you see Him every day now, so please say “thank you” to God, for sending angels like you Fr. Dave!
Fr. Dave was the "face of Jesus" for so many people. I loved going to Reconciliation with him, as he was so inviting and kind. Yes, he would always say..life is real... AND he was the real deal.
When we belonged to Ascension while we lived in Beavercreek and Fr. Dave was pastor, he was telling us one day after Mass that he had a very uncomfortable couch in the rectory and couldn't take a nap on it. We had just moved into our condo in Summit Ridge and had decided to buy a new sofa, so we offered our older one to Fr. Dave, assuring him it would be long enough for nice naps. We arranged to get it over to the Ascension Rectory, and he did enjoy it all the rest of the time he was at the parish. When he moved to St. Helen's and we had come up to Dayton from Florida to celebrate our 5oth wedding anniversary with our children and grandchildren, he was so kind to do a special blessing for us and our family, even though we did not belong to his parish any more. Such a marvelous priest and human being.
Amy - I first met Father Dave when my Grandma Deime went to Ascension, I after college in the late 1990's moved to Belmont neighborhood and started going to Ascension myself and was involved with Twinning committee. In 2003, I was relocated out of state, missed his services, but my parents kept me posted. We kept in touch via email a few times a year and when I was in town always looked forward to hearing one of his masses at St. Helen's.
I loved how he always ended his masses, Bless You!
I always said if I ever got married I wanted Father Dave to perform the ceremony, he was so welcoming to everyone. My Mom saw Father Dave perform one of his final masses at Ascension last summer and he said if Karen wants to get married, she better hurry up. He always provided the right words, the right bible verse for single girl me, but I'm not alone God is by my side and also is Uncle Duff looking down on all of us.
Thank you Dave for always brighting my day. Bless you!
Father Dave was the celebrant for our wedding, and my husband, Pat, and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary, so I was thinking of him especially on that day. Two particular memories: At our rehearsal, Fr. Dave sauntered into the church wearing gym shorts, a white undershirt, and sandals. He said hello to a few people, walked up behind me, placed his hands on my shoulders, and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Count your blessings." And then he left without another word-- Many in our wedding party didn't know he was the priest until the next day! Then, after our wedding reception, Pat and I went with some friends to Kramer's, a local bar. I was still in my dress and Pat still in his tux. Someone asked us where we'd been married, and, after I said Saint Helen, someone screamed from across the busy bar, "I LOVE FATHER DAVE!"
Amy, thank you for this.....he has been on my mind so much...we lost our mama in December, and the grief and joyful memories of both of them are always swirling around me. The one thing that really stands out to me about Fr. Dave was his ability to let you know that something you did was not perhaps as good as it could have been, or, frankly, that you kind of screwed up, in a way that was still full of respect for you as a person he cared about, as a person with dignity. I marvel at that, and since his death any my mom’s death, I have been more keenly aware of how I talk to others. May I pass on this gift of his grace!
I, too, have marked the days; sometimes a year seems like forever ago. Thank you for posting this opportunity to share remembrances, Amy. I have been talking to him a lot lately as I harvest seeds from his beloved cockscombs. Carole visited yesterday and we reminisced as she shared photos of HER garden of cockscomb, as well! His gentle presence surrounds us even as the presence of the LORD surrounds us with eternal love. The 'thrill ride' he gave to the little ones in the golf cart at that last picnic will forever live in my heart and memory as an image of the 'ride' we often take with the Lord. . .full of bumps and giggles, stops and starts, shrieks of laughter and brought safely back again to the shared joy of family. Yep, he was special in so many ways! Thanks, Duff, for the blessings!
I do have a funny memory of the golf cart ride@! He told us to hold on to our hair so I grabbed Kathy's head of hair as he put the pedal to the metal. We thought we were gonna fall off so were laughing our heads off!!
I am grateful to have known him when other churches in the area were hoping he was coming to their parishes back in 2004 when our family moved closer to family and Carroll.
Please stay in touch with us.
Donna Herrin