In Memoriam: David Ralph McCroskey

This is my brother Bruce’s memorial page for our older brother David.

On the morning of March 31st David was carrying his golf clubs from his car to the pro shop for his regular Monday morning round of golf.  The Lord had other plans and David collapsed, suffering a fatal heart attack.  He was taken too soon, but taken while doing what he loved.

Even though he was my brother, I do not know many details of David’s life.  Growing up we were separated by 6 years – a veritable chasm during that period of our lives.  When we were old enough so that the age gap no longer mattered, we were separated by miles, continents, and oceans.

I can tell you that David was

• a paperboy

• a boy scout

•  a summer lifeguard at the Capistrano Beach Club.

David

• played clarinet in the high school band

• was in ROTC (and bounced between private and corporal several times).

On particularly cold nights he earned some spending money by going out in the orange groves to help light smudge-pots.

David was a Marine, joining the Corps to get out of Riverside.  He made it as far as Oceanside where he spent nearly all of his enlistment at Camp Pendleton.

He was an engineer.  Putting himself through Cal Poly, he ended up working at the same lab our father helped establish.

David was the epitome of a Southern Californian – only natural since he’d been one all of his life

• he owned a boat, and a pool, and a sports car

• he was an avid golfer

• he never missed an opportunity to brag about the weather – and he never bothered to mention the traffic and the smog.

David was a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a good friend.

David was my older brother.  I say “older” because he always took great amusement in referring to me as his “BIG” brother.  While David and I did not speak or correspond to any great extent, I was secure in the knowledge that he was here.  On those much too rare occasions when I could visit, he was always ready for a round of golf followed by a round (or two, or three) of beer.  As soon as I stepped through his front door I was enfolded in the warm embrace of family.

David, my brother, was a safe haven in this busy world and I will sorely miss him.