Dave was a career jumper. He worked out of Redmond through 1968, then from Fairbanks in 1971, 1972 and 1974 through 1988. A graduate of the University of Idaho with a bachelor's degree in range management, he served with the 82nd Airborne Division and later worked for Air America in Laos. He died of a heart attack at his home in Twin Falls, Idaho, in January 1998 at the age of 52.