Obituary
David was born in 1946 and lived his early years in Covington, KY. His parents Dena Frances Wolfe and Gilbert Herbert Rodgers moved to Parma, OH in 1955, and David would live almost his entire adult life in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH. He attended Valley Forge High School (Parma) and then graduated from Bowling Green University (OH) in 1972 focusing on History and Political Science. During his time at Bowling Green, he took a break from school and enrolled in the U.S. Army between 1966 and 1970-a choice he took great pride in throughout his life-where he elected Officer Training School, finishing at a rank of 1st Lieutenant in the Army and as Captain in the Reserve.
During his second tenure at Bowling Green, he met Jane Ellen Nunn, who survives him in death, in a history class-winning her over with his intellect-and they were married February 24, 1973. In 1977, David Bryan Rodgers (Kara), their only son, was born and survives to write this message.
He took on many roles to support his family over the years, but in his heart, he was a teacher. At virtually every role from 1972-2006, he was either a teacher or found himself in a position of creating educational curriculum for that particular line of business. He seemed most proud of a culinary school he created in Columbus in the mid-1980s and his global training role years later at Bowne & Co.
David worked to live, but he lived for family, golf, travel, music, gardening, card-playing and a good meal. He relished his role as grandfather to Logan Andrew (16), Tyler Patrick (14) and Mason Graham (10) and, more recently, to Samantha (16) and Jackson (14). He was brother to Gary and Jerry (deceased); Uncle to Jody, Jeff, Joanne, Barbara, Jennifer, Laura and Adam (deceased); and Great Uncle to Kyle, Ryan, Marc, Sean, Maddy, Brooklyn, Lisa and Shannon.
He rarely missed a match of his grandkids playing sports and was always ready for a game of poker, hearts, bocce, ping pong or pool on family occasions. He played bridge daily on the computer and made countless trips to Kentucky to track the genealogy of his family back to royal heritage in Scotland. He leaves behind shelves of CDs and DVDs that he listened to and watched endlessly and, even more importantly, vivid memories that will result in countless stories for years to come.
Friends will be received at Nosek-McCreery Funeral Home, 8150 Brecksville Rd., Brecksville, Ohio 44141 on Monday, September 20, 2021 from 3pm - 6:30pm with David's memorial service to begin at 6:30pm. A private military interment ceremony will be held at a later date at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers or donations, please dedicate a family game day or a walk through a garden with your loved ones to remember David and those who have left a piece of themselves in your heart.
For those still wishing to donate, please visit www.mightyvincent.org/donate and consider signing up for a day of service or contributing to this legacy.
Events
03:00 PM - 06:30 PM
Brecksville, OH 44141
06:30 PM
Brecksville, OH 44141