Murray High School Class of 1966   •   St. Paul Minnesota   •   www.murraypilots1966.org  •  info@murraypilots1966.org

4/24/1948 – 6/28/2010

from Jan Hartwick Sterk (2016):

David would never forgive me if I used his given first name, Alfred. He tried to keep that little known moniker from all his friends, until the age of retirement and social security, when he was more than happy to give his real name as the recipient of those all important checks.

David and I were married in September of 1969. Just babes at the time, we were pretty sure it was the right thing for us, and low and behold, the marriage lasted 40 years until David’s untimely death on June 28, 2010.

He was an excellent partner in life. David loved his life, his family, his children and the grandchildren he got to know. We were married several years prior to the birth of our children and used those years to travel, locally and internationally. The proud owners of a VW camper van, we would leave the cities on Friday nights after work, most summer and fall weekends, with our cedar and canvas Old Town canoe on the roof rack, and drive for five or six hours to find our camp site at midnight. All day Saturday and Sunday mornings were spent paddling the Boundary Waters, fishing, camping, and exploring. When our daughter was born in late August, 40 years ago, we headed up to the Gunflint Trail in late September with that little four week old baby bundled in layers of flannel and down.

Anna, 40, and Andrew, 37, went camping with us as children and have a love of the BWCA in their blood. We discovered the Bayfield area and the Apostle Islands when we bought a powerboat when the kids were adolescents. Many years were spent exploring the beauty and spectacle of Lake Superior. In 2001, we bought property on the south shore of Lake Superior, near Bayfield, and David got to live out one of his life dreams when he and I built a cabin on that property. It took us three years to build. We completed it just 10 months before he died.

We began our married life while I was still a student at the U of M and David was an apprentice carpenter. We lived in St. Anthony Park, behind the State Farm Insurance agency. In 1972, we decided we should probably do something wild and crazy before we were old and crazy, so we left our jobs, paid ahead for three months of rent at $90/month, and headed across the country to visit friends and relatives and drive the Al-Can highway to Alaska. 1972 was pre-pipeline in Alaska, so we drove over 1300 miles on gravel to Anchorage and beyond. Gas was 29.9 CENTS when we left. In the Northwest Territory we paid 50 cents for a gallon of gas and shook hands and agreed that if we ever had to pay more than 50 cents a gallon when we got home, we would not drive an internal combustion engine vehicle. So much for promises! We visited Dave Miller and Buzz Chetum in Sun Valley, UT on the way and stayed with Dave Olson and Wally Gayman while we were in Knik, Alaska.

After a year at Mankato State University, David switched gears and went on to become a journeyman carpenter. He worked most of his career as general superintendent for Ryan Construction in Minneapolis. He stepped away from Ryan for a period of years to take a position as vice president of a Canadian Firm that was trying to get a foothold in the US construction market. When that firm went back to Canada, he returned to Ryan.

His work with Ryan took him on the road all over the country. He built large commercial buildings in several states including Colorado, Iowa, Arizona and Connecticut. It’s fun driving around the Twin Cities and telling the grandkids, “Pa Pa built that building.” His biggest local projects include the Target Corporate Office Building on Nicolette Mall and the Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park.

We built our own home on five acres north of Stillwater. That is where we lived for 37 years, and where we raised our children. David had a deep love of the outdoors, and found peace and joy if he was in nature. He loved adventure. We did many scuba diving vacations, hiking vacations and spent a month exploring New Zealand. He loved road biking and biked with two different groups of men in Stillwater.

David was a quiet man, a man of few words, but deeply honest and trustworthy. He was extremely well read, physically active, and a wonderful builder and craftsman. He had an expansive vocabulary, and could play with words and double meanings in clever ways. He had excellent wilderness skills and could fix or build almost anything. At his funeral, his best friend Ron said, “You always felt safe with Dave, even if you weren’t.” Definitely an introvert, and actually quite shy, he didn’t have a big group of friends, but he was a loyal friend to those in his circle of connection. He had a great sense of humor, which our kids both inherited.

Our daughter, Anna, is married to Sam Ciresi (she remained a Sterk), and they have three girls: Marion 13, Lucy 6, and Eleanor 5. Andrew is married to Amy (she is a Sterk). They have an 8-year old boy named Arbor and are expecting another child in January.

I am honored to represent David at the Murray 50threunion. He transferred to Murray after two years at Washington and was happy to spend his senior year with his friends, even though the transfer cost him sports eligibility. He would have enjoyed seeing all of you again, sharing stories and memories of wild adventures, and maybe making some amends. 

A message I keep getting from him is, “Life is short. Don’t worry. Live life.” I get a strong sense of deep soul laughter. David’s death has enlightened mine.