Birth date: Mar 15, 1939 Death date: Apr 26, 2011
David Stewart Dahl, 72, of Makawao, died April 26, 2011, at home under hospice care.Private services were held by family. Nakamura Mortuary is assisting with the arrangements.Mr. Dahl was born March 15, 1939, in Viroqua, Wisconsin Read Obituary
My big brother
So proud of all, his accomplishments in this life.
Missed dearly by his littlest sis,
Heidi Harless
Brownsdale, MN
On behalf of the Staff at Nakamura Mortuary, we would like to express our deepest condolences to you and your family.
Please remember to call us with any questions or concerns. We are here for you.
Me ke aloha pumehana,
Connie Castillo-Walsh
Funeral Director
450 Waiale Road, Wailuku, HI 96793
808-244-3726
Funeral Director##imported-begin##Connie##imported-end##
Dave and I served together on the USS Mitchell from March of 1959, when he reported aboard, until February of 1961, when I was discharged -- a period of just under two years. I was a Radioman and he was an Aerographer's Mate (meteorologist or weatherman). His job required him to spend a fair amount of time in my radio shack and we soon became good friends. Our mutual midwestern roots probably provided our initial commonality. We were about the only two guys on the ship who knew that Whoopee John and the Five Fat Dutchmen hailed from New Ulm, Minnesota. (We were probably also the only ones who cared!)
Initially, we ran around with a larger group of guys, but as our friendship deepened, the two of us became steady liberty partners. We finagled our way into the same duty section so that we could usually be ashore together. By the last year of that two-year span, we had become virtually inseparable.
We lost track of each other for nearly three decades after I was discharged. Dave and I were each busy with other pursuits during the first years after we were separated. By the late 1960s, I began trying to trace him through the Navy, a cumbersome process in those pre-computer days. Over the next few years, I obtained three different duty stations, but he had always been transferred by the time I wrote. In the late 1980s, I visited his family in Viroqua and obtained a current address, to which I wrote.
Another year or two passed. Then, like a bolt from the blue, he phoned me one Thanksgiving day. We both enjoyed reliving the past and bringing each other up to date on our current lives. He was residing in California at the time. Thereafter, we had several long phone conversations each year and exchanged Christmas cards, plus, I always sent him a birthday card on the Ides of March.
So, although we haven't seen each other in person since I walked down the gangplank of the Mitchell for the last time a little over a half-century ago on February 13, 1961, we've been back in touch for the last couple decades. I consider him the best buddy I ever had and it pains me to know he no longer walks this earth with me.
I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife, children and siblings. Rest in peace, shipmate. May you always have smooth seas and following winds.
Dean Varner
4417 Pine View Dr NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402-1714
319-395-7702
Navy Shipmate##imported-begin##Dean Varner##imported-end##
