It is with a heart full of emotions that I write to you today - not as PrintToLaser (Dave), but as his son, Daniel. Tragically, we lost Dad on Tuesday 5/14 following a massive heart attack. We never knew he had had a heart attack(s) as he was a very tough person who didn’t share a lot about his ailments. Honestly, I don’t know if he knew either. He wasn’t a regular visitor to the local Dr office. He had some rather entertaining stories on the health front, including stitching his own face after a bad cut… something that could certainly be used as a brag had he not been so humble.
Dave has always had family around him that loved him deeply, and despite that, he spoke quite regularly of his family here on the “laser forum”. As I looked at his profile here, I was surprised to see just how deeply he was invested in this community as both a student and a teacher.
I don’t know how much of his personal story he had shared here over the years, but after being forced to retire early by conventional standards, he fell into a very emotionally challenging period - call it a mid-life crisis. He regularly shared that this community is what helped him out of that rut and gave him something to point himself at and engage with. He again had a creative outlet.
Dave was one of the wisest people I have ever known in my 37 years and counting, and I know his various words of wisdom will still ring in my ears from time to time when an opportunity presents itself. I hope the same may be true for a few of you.
First and foremost to all of you, I must say Thank You! Thank you for being the community that excited him to rise each morning and engage with. Thank you for being a source of mental challenges in problem-solving. Thank you for being a source of inspiration. And thank you for being another outlet for him to share his learnings.
We did various projects together over the years and I consider myself a bit of a tinkerer similar to my dad. I was also hoping to create a profile here as I am now the owner of a few machines myself!
Thank you all for being a part of his life that was very important to him. His whole family is grateful for that. He will certainly be missed.
I’m shocked, saddened, grieved. Dave’s interactions on this forum were a bright spot from the very earliest days. His generous spirit came across in everything he posted, as did his love and pride in his family. He will be deeply missed. Deepest sympathies to you and all your family. I’m glad you plan to continue in our midst—I think Dave would be very happy about that.
As you’ve discovered, he was one of the bedrocks of this community and many of us, myself included, counted him as a friend. I live in the Denver area, and we met up a couple of times a year for lunch or a beer.
Here’s what kind of friend he was… A number of years ago, I was working on a time-critical commission and ran short of materiel. No time to order more and no local sources back then, so I put out a call for help to the Denver group. Not only did he come through for me, he had your sister and her (at that time) fiancée meet me on their way back to Ft. Collins to deliver a sheet of Proofgrade and saved the day.
That’s just one of the many, many times he helped me over the years. He will be sorely missed.
Please let us know if there’s an organization to which we can make donations in his name.
Thank you for reaching into this part of his world to let us know, he will certainly leave a void. Our thoughts are with you and the rest of his family and friends.
I had no idea we were helping your father as he was helping us - right from the beginning he was a lovely person to hear from! I hope his memory, and his skills live on through you.
He’d start this kind of conversation and two years later, be right there checking out everybody’s non-Glowforge skills and making sure they knew they were seen.
I am so lucky to have gotten to know your dad through this forum. He was funny and generous and smart - but you know that. We will miss him! Thank you so much for letting us know. You are in our hearts.
This news is such a shock and makes me very sad. My heartfelt wishes to you and your family for comfort and peace. David was one of my very first friends here on the forum. We had gone the entire journey together so to speak, taking the big plunge to buy a Glowforge, waiting for them to arrive, and we both joined the forum only one month apart.
He was a wonderful guy…always ready with encouragement and kind words…and always being as much help as he could be.
I will miss him very much…he held an important place in this world and was someone whom I thought would ‘always be here’. Thank you for letting us all know of his passing.
I can’t but say Amen to all those posted above, but he was special to me as well for as best I can tell we were the only ones here who had been heavily making Western-style Jewelry. so there was a lot of shared understanding of minerals and metalwork. I will very much miss that.
Thank you so much for thinking of us to let us know during this impossible time for you and your family . You just don’t know how much he’ll be missed here.
Again, thank you for letting us know. He was an inspiration to all. I knew nothing when I started here and he was one of the ones who was so patient and helpful. Always had a kind work. My heart goes out to you and your family. Thanks for thinking of us. We ‘are’ like a family here.
To Daniel and all Dave’s family my deepest sympathies. Your Dad was a friend I never actually met in person, but someone who was definitely a big part of the backbone of the Glowforge family. He was a very patient teacher to all who asked for help and was very encouraging to me and others when we were new at this. His designs and the techniques he shared were inspirational to many of us. His loss will definitely leave a large void here. Thank you for sharing this sad news. Know that your and your family are in our thoughts as you go through this difficult time. We would love to see you here in the future.
Debbie
