I am so sad at the sudden loss of my nephew. There is a huge void in our family. So glad I got to see you last month. My heart is breaking. DeAnn

Vicki and Family, My sincere sympathy to you and the family. All my prayers and thoughts are with you today as God will be with you and look after you. Love, Colleen

Vicki and Family – Prayers to you all. Vicki, I never met Dave but by the pictures you were always posting of him and your family I cannot imagine the loss you feel now. Cherish those memories you have of him. Sue

I was completey shocked… Dave-san.

It is my treasure working with you in MTS.
I am thinkg when we drunk sake in Japan two years ago… great time.
So sad.

Arigato, Sayonara, Dave-san.

Dear Vicki and Family: I am so sorry for your loss. Dave was a great man, a caring friend (no matter the distance), and left an impression on everyone he met. Our prayers go out to you and your families.
Mike Lazzarotti

So sorry for your loss. We recall a lot of great times with Dave during his time here at Ford and are shocked and saddened by his sudden passing. Our prayers will be with you during this very difficult time.

God Bless,

– Brett and Kathy

I am stunned! Dave was such a wonderful person to know and have worked with at MTS. He will be missed. My deepest sympathies to you and your family.
Sincerely,
Joe

Vicki & Family,
Our sincere sympathy to you and your family. Very shocked by his sudden passing. Very much enjoyed working with him at Ford, they were great times. Our prayers and thoughts are with you and your family through this very difficult time.
God Bless, Lynn & Jo Morgan

Vicki and Family – I struggle to find the words to express the sorrow and sadness appropriate for your loss. Dave was a very special friend and colleague. One that I respected, admired and enjoyed so may good times with over the years. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family during this most difficult time. Duane.

Dear Vickie and family… We were so saddened to learn of Dave’s untimely passing. You folks were such great frends and neighbors back in the day. Dave made a number of major contributions to GM during his time there. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Vicki and family, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts and prayers go out to you all. Love, Patti

Vickie,
So sorry to hear of your loss. I worked with Dave when he first graduated. His time at GM proving ground and working with Dave was fun to say the least. He loaned me his pin ball machine to use for my kids. When I turned 40 he took me out for lunch. Full vehicle testing was a love of his life there where a hand full of fellow workers that worked in this area. Vickie, every time I go past your house on the corner of Latson and Argentine I think of your family. I don’t know how many children you have ,but please give them all a big hug from me.

Its terrible to hear about your loss. It was a pleasure to work with Dave at MTS. We extend our deepest sympathies to you and your family. May the soul of Dave be at peace. Our hearts go out to you during this time and may our prayers serve as comfort to you and your loved ones.

Vicki, Thomas and Audrey, your husband and father was a good and godly man, a good friend. I will miss Dave but I rejoice that he is in the presence of his Savior. Amen Dave!

Vicki and family, I am so sorry to hear about Dave’s passing. You have my deepest sympathy. May you feel God’s loving arms wrapped around you and holding you tight during this time. You are in my prayers.
Diane Linkugel (Bohling)

I am so sorry to hear of your loss.. I was so happy to see Dave last Tuesday. I had not seen him in a couple years. He was one of the finest people I ever worked with. My prayers are with you in this difficult time.

Vicki, Thomas, and Audrey,
I wish you all the best during this time of mourning. Dave was a fantastic man. He will be missed.

Dear Vicky and Audrey and Thomas,
Although I only know you all from pictures, I worked with Dave on many occasions in Minneapolis and on site. He was a tremendously talented man who was often sought out as a source of advice and yet he was in no way arrogant, always prepared to listen and help. I both respected him and liked him. I will miss him and I will never forget him. Dave left his mark on our lives and it was a very positive mark. That is something to remember with great pride. I wish you all strength in this difficult time.,
Deepest sympathy,
John Craig

My deepest sympathy to you and your family. My thoughts and prayers are with you at this time.
Mary Jo

Vicki and Family, Heartfelt condolences to you on the loss of Dave. Dave was one of the best guys to work with at Ford as a customer and then later as a co-worker at MTS. He was brilliant, and such a constuctive, straight-forward guy. He will be remembered, and sorely missed.

All the Best,
Tony Lowe

Vicki and family,
Deeply saddened and shocked to hear the news. Condolences and prayers from Lucy and I. Dave was a dear friend and highly respected colleague at Ford. May the Lord be close to you and be your comforter at this time.

Dear Vicki and Family,
I was shocked to hear of Dave’s passing and you have my deepest sympathy and prayers. Dave was much too young to be taken away and I can hardly believe it. Dave and I worked in the same group at MTS and his office was a couple doors away from mine. I’ve had great respect for his work and innovation. I’ve enjoyed working with Dave and will miss hearing his voice as it had a way of passing through the ceiling toward my office.

Dear Vicky and family, love and prayers to you all. We are out of town so cannot be with you for the services,but you will certainly be in our thoughts and prayers.

Vicki, Thomas, Audrey and families….
So saddened to learn of Dave’s passing. Sending lots of prayers to all of you
during this time. May God give you strength. So much love from afar.
Holding you close in our hearts…..
Karen Strok and family

We Feel Honored and Blessed to have Known Dave. He was Truly a Blessing in Our Lives
and We will miss Him. Please Accept Our Sincere Condolences, May God give him Eternal Rest and the Family the Strength to Bear the Great Pain Especially During this Difficult Time. Our Thoughts and Prayers are With You

Dearest Vicki, Thomas, Audrey, Mark and Family, We are so sorry for your loss. We know our heavenly father is taking care of you now and forever. He will give you the strength to get ghrough this. Dave was a great guy and truly a christian as well as such a wonderful family man. There is no doubt you all will miss him, celebrate his life everyday. May God bless you and keep you. Our love and sincerest sympathy to you.

So sorry to hear of your loss. I remember Dave from high school. God bless!

Vicki and family – My deepest condolences. May great memories and the love shared help you heal and give you strength through this most difficult time. Thoughts and prayers are with you.

Dear Vicky and Family,
I am so deeply saddened to hear this news about Dave that I don’t even know what to say. Dave was one of the greatest people I have known; intelligent, sincere, humble, supportive, and so funny in his very own way. Time flies and its been years, although it seems like yesterday, and I was always thinking I would go back and visit ‘soon’. Hugs to you Vicky.

Cynthia (and Kenny) Rubio-Ratton

Vicki, I am so sorry for your loss. Keeping you and your children in my thoughts and prayers.

Vicki and family,
Can’t express the shock in hearing of Dave’s passing as his former Ford colleagues were just talking about spending time with him at the MTS users group last week. I will always remember Dave as one of the instrumental people in getting Full Vehicle testing at Ford off the ground, and the passion he had for his job. You and your family have my deepest sympathy and will be in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Vicki, Thomas, and Audrey – My heart just breaks for all of you. I am so sorry to hear about Dave. I pray for strength and much love to all of you.

From all of us at FCA Group (Chrysler), it was a pleasure to work with Dave, our condolences on your loss.

Vicki and family,
I am very sad and shocked to hear of Dave’s passing. As a fellow Nebraska grad, I enjoyed our discussions and mutual love of the Cornhuskers.
Dave was very intelligent and highly respected in his field. A large void is left behind.
My condolences and prayers go out to you and your extended families.

Vicki & Family, So very sorry to hear of Dave’s passing. I was honored to consider him a colleague in the engineering community. Our thoughts are with you and your family.

Dear Vicki and family
I’m so sorry to hear of Dave’s passing. I clearly remember to work with him at MTS. He is always professional and ready to help others. He will be remembered and sorely missed.

Deepest Sympathy,

Monate Li

Vicki,
So sorry to hear about Dave – such a shock! Laura called me this morning and told me the news. She and the kids are packing up to drive to Texas for Rob’s dad’s funeral which will be this Thursday – he died this past Sunday morning. So much sadness – please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.
Love, Laura, Kurt and Sharon

Dear Vicky and Family,

my deepest sympathy to you and your family. I’m still stunned! I had the opportunity to work with Dave many times on different projects around the world and it always was a pleasure to meet and spend time with him.

I lost a friend and I will definitely miss him a lot.

I wish you strength, my thoughts are with you and your Family.
Rainer
MTS Berlin

Vicki and family – I am so shocked about Dave’s passing. It was such a great time in our lives when we worked together at GM. Having Dave as an office mate during those years when we were all a bunch of cowboy engineers was a truly unique experience. I am so sad he was taken so young and so suddenly. I really can’t even process it to be honest. He was a great man. I feel privileged to have known him. Prayers, love and hugs to you. Glenn

My deepest condolences. I remember Dave from grade scool and high school.
May great memories help you heal and give you strength through this most difficult time. Thoughts and prayers are with you.

Reply

Vicki and family
I am stunned beyond words – I am thankful to have visited with him last week, I am blessed to have known him, and I will miss him – a brilliant man, one of the brightest I have ever known. God bless you all in this difficult time.
Joe (& Lou-Ann) Morrill

Vicki, Thomas, Audrey,
We are so sorry for your loss. Dave was a wonderful man that loved you all dearly and he will be watching over you, along with our Heavenly Father. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.

I met Dave last week on Oct. 23 and 24, 2016 at RPC Users’ Group Meeting in Michigan. He’s such a friendly, considerate person and also a hard-to-find expert in our field. His passing away is a huge loss to our field as well as to us as a friend. My sincere condolence to Dave’s family! I happen to be in Eden Prairie attending training this week. Plan to attend funeral to pay my respect. Wish Dave rest in Heaven in peace! Jizhong (Matt) Guo from F.tech R&D North America, Inc., Troy, Ohio.

I am so sorry for your loss. It doesn’t feel like it has been that many years ago we were playing in the marching band at BHS. I remember when Dave got that Monte Carlo! Memories of a fun, witty, smart guy come flooding back. My thoughts and prayers are with you all during this very difficult time.

Vicki and family –
We are saddened to hear about your loss. For eight years, between work and commute, I’m pretty sure that I saw Dave more than I saw my own family. Our discussions would range from how we could do something new at work, or how to fix the world, or how silly some line of Star Trek dialogue was. Dave was a great co-worker, and a genuine friend. Our prayers are with you.

Vicki,
Saying that I am sorry for your loss doesn’t seem like adequate words. My heart goes out to you and your family during this difficult time. Love, Nancy

Am still shocked and saddened. I first met Dave my freshman year at The University of Nebraska. We both played trombone in the Cornhusker Marching Band (The Pride of All Nebraska!). We didn’t start hanging out until our sophomore year, but a friendship developed and it never left. We had great times together in band and as roommates. Bowl games, front row pep band for Husker basketball games. We did so many things with Dave and Vickie in the early years – so many great memories. Our lives took us to other parts of the world for a while until we hooked up again for a weekend in San Diego in 2010. Since then we’ve been lucky enough to meet them in other places and so glad that we have. I’ll never forget the quality time we spent with them just a month ago in Chicago. I will miss being able to see him, laugh with him, and more immediately texting him after Nebraska football games. I loved Dave’s laugh, his intelligence, and his common sense. Our thoughts are with Vickie, Thomas and Audrey, and Dave’s mom and dad. I will miss Dave but know we’ll be friends forever.

Dave was a great guy, a wonderful classmate and friend. Very intelligent, but always humble. He will be missed. My sincere condolences to his family.

I will remenber Dave as a great engineer, a nice and generous colleague and an example for others. It is a so sad new that it is difficult to express all what i feel. I will miss him a lot.
i wish you strength during this difficult time .

Nicolas
MTS France

Dear Vicky and family,

I am so shocked and I am so sad about the death of my friend and collegue Dave! It was always a pleasure and benefaction to work with him and to meet him. Most of my knowledge and methods, I am using in my daily working life, are somehow linked to Dave. So the least, I can do now, is to keep him alive by my daily work. It was such a big luck having the possibility to work with him and to know him. I really will miss him!
I also will miss a friend, who joined us already at my family, I hiked together and spent some good times in Munich! My memories will last for ever!

I just can repeat the old saying: the good die (too) young!

Vicky and family, all my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Hans-Peter with family

Vicki & family , Sorry for are great loss , I think of Dave each time I drive by the old house , went to high school & FFA together with Dave keep you in our prayers.

Dave’s passing is both a personal shock and a professional loss for me. He was an outstanding Mechanical Engineer who inspired me and whom I respected and admired greatly. He leaves a very large professional gap for us in the testing community, and I’m sure a much larger one for his family and friends. It is all too soon for him to have left us. I just saw him last Monday 10/24/16 at the RPCUG conference here in Michigan. He was very kind and complimentary in his remarks to me for which I was touched. He left us happy memories joining several of the other engineers there with me to sing a spoof song about our testing community, as has been done in the past. It is all very hard to believe. God bless his soul and his family during this most difficult of times.

Dear Vicky and family, I just learned of Dave’s passing and I am so sorry for your loss. Many years ago I had the pleasure of working with him, as a customer, when he was at Ford Motor and it was a great pleasure for me. He was one of the finest people I have had the pleasure of knowing.

Gale A. Hargrave

Dear Vicki,

I was shocked when I got the mail from Steve Haeg. I remember many good times when we met privat and at work. Dave was a great guy.

In my thoughts I will be with Dave, you, you children and your family.
Rolf Driessen
(Audi Ingolstadt)

Vicki – our thoughts are with you and your family at this sad time. This is so very unexpected. I hadn’t seen Dave for many years but then, just last week, I ran into him quite unexpectedly here in Michigan. We reminisced and shared some good memories and laughs – infectious smiles and laughs are a Dave trademark. I first met him back in the 80’s at Milford. Then I interacted with him in the Ford days when I was at SK – including a “road trip” to a conference in England and a Greektown / Red Wings evening with yourself and my wife (Phiz). It’s hard to believe that was all 20 years ago. All good memories. I learned a lot from him about engineering, testing, musicians, good humor and humility – and I feel most privileged to have known him. We’re all going to miss him.

Dave and I had worked together on one of first HSRC applications in auto industry history in 2014, we stayed late after 9pm every day for about a week to get through the setup and first road iterated. Dave was the instrumental brain of the HSRC, very intelligent and a true gentleman. Going to miss him greatly. The best way to remember Dave is to continue on his invention of HSRC.

AN LI
FCA

Vicki and Family,
I’m shocked and saddened at the news of Dave’s passing. I’ve known Dave from his days at GM and followed his career through Ford and MTS. We were connected through testing technology and the RPCUG. I admired his passion for engineering, his intelligence and wit. Dave was a great man and a talented engineer. He will be missed.

Vicki, family, and many friends,
My wife and I have been on the road for several days and have just turned on our computer to find that David had died. We are both so sorry to hear that. I recruited David at the University of Nebraska and followed his progress at the General Motors Proving Ground where he had an excellent reputation and so many friends. Our sincere condolences to his family and many friends.

Dear Vicky and family,

I was really shocked and it is difficult to say in words what I felt when I heard that very sad message by Rainer Thielmann.
I am happy, that I could work together with Dave in a big project some years ago and enjoyed meeting and discussing with hin several times in the recent years.
Once I had been invited to your home and I could experience your warm hospitality!
I will miss him as a friend and I wish you all the best in these very sad times!

Michael Wildhagen

Dave joined the Structural Life Development Department at the GM Proving Ground right after graduating from Nebraska, focusing on Test Methods Development. Along with the other “Young Cowboys” he quickly established himself as a highly regarded and sought after technical expert and leader in Road Load Data Acquisition and Simulation Technologies.

He was a very hard worker and critical thinkers, unselfishly sharing his expertise with others, and in a very gracious and willing way.

My wife Barbara and I have many happy memories of this years. It was a joy to spend time with Dave and the other young engineers with all their energy and optimism.

Vickie, we are heartbroken at your loss. Dave will be missed by family, so many friends, and the professional community.

Thomas and Barbara Johnson

My heart goes out to David’s family. I knew David while growing up in Papillion, Nebraska. I babysat for him and his sister Kathy and also attended church with the Fricke family at Saint Paul’s Methodist in Papillion. I’m sure his loss will create a large hole for many. You are all in my prayers.

I am really shocked and so ultimately sad hearing about Dave’s passing. He was such a wonderful guy, full of passion and dedication to his job and our common engineering projects.
Rest in peace, Dave.

I am so sorry for your loss. I’m glad I got to see him at the 60th anniversary party. I’m sorry I couldn’t attend the visitation with the rest of my family. My deepest sympathy , and prayers for all his family.

I am so sorry for your loss. To lose your forever-friend is heartbreaking. I went to BHS with Dave and was in band with him. When I think of Dave, I think talented, motivated, passionate, intelligent…I remember when he started dating his love of his life…he was so over the moon about Vicki, even back then. Many positive thoughts and prayers of strength and consolation for your family. Walk in peace with our Lord, Dave.

My condolences to you Vicki and your children. I am so sad to hear about Dave. I regret not getting to know him better while I was at MTS. I didn’t know we had so much in common: farm kids, marching band kids and lifelong Methodists. It would have been fun to talk to him.

I completely shocked and deeply saddened to hear about Dave’s passing. I always found him to be professional but very approachable. Such a loss to our industry. My deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, and coworkers.

Howard Thompson
Honda R&D Americas, Inc

Vicki and Family,

I was shocked to hear the news about Dave’s passing. I saw him the week before at the Detroit testing EXPO. It was the first time we had seen each other for many many years. We caught up on old times. We have known each other for at least 20 years, and I always loved spending time with him. He had a brilliant mind and a warm heart. I will miss him very much.

I am also grateful to you and Dave for introducing me to Wallace and Grommet all those years ago. I think of you every time I watch it.

Nigel Linden