MEMORIAL TRIBUTES

Tribute from

Susan (Hilton) Ashcraft

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Dave lived with my family his senior year of high school. His family was transferred out of state, and he wanted to finish at Globe High, so I had the honor of having one more brother that year. His first night at our house, my Nana said, “Well, you must be someone special, because we’re eating in the dining room.” We ate there because there weren’t enough chairs in the kitchen, but Dave was indeed someone special for our family.

My brother, Randy, had quite a sense of humor, and he referred to Dave as our Polish exchange student. Randy had a repertoire of what he called “Polack jokes” (I know...offensive!) that he loved to tell at dinner. It didn’t take Dave very long to catch on to rallying the jabs right back, so we had some very lively meals that year.

Dave also regaled us at dinner with statistics of ASU athletes like Joe Spagnola and Larry Gura. We

marveled at his memory of individual players’ percentages of completed passes, strike-outs and pretty much every detail of athletic achievement. Little did we know that he was just warming up for a long career involving all things sports-related.

Rumor has it that my dad let Dave borrow the family car (shock!) for dates with Pam. Thank goodness he did, so their relationship could grow that year. Otherwise, the Pam and Dave Story might have been a short story instead of the epic tale that it became.

Many thanks to Pam for reconnecting Dave and me after many years. Love you, Dave.