The boys were to grow up and attend school in St. Lambert. In those days St. Lambert was a small city and its outskirts were very rural. The Irvine Avenue home was on the edge of town near the St. Lawrence River and the Country Club of Montreal golf course. At that time the St. Lawrence was, if not pristine, at least unpolluted and both boys learned to swim, often unsupervised, in its waters.

After hoofing it, one mile each way, to Victoria Park School for Grades 1 through 4, David attended Chambly County High, in the “old building” at 81 Green St. While in high school Dave took part in school debates, Inter-scholastic Public Speaking, Bowling, Senior “B” Basketball, the Whisper Staff and Dramatics (St. Lambert Thespians) and also played inter-park CSA hockey at all levels.

David well remembers most of his school teachers including, Mrs. Waddell and Johnson, Miss Standish and Montgomery, and Mr. Todd, but perhaps most fondly, Ken Elliot who strongly influenced him to choose and follow a career in the field of Education.

Following graduation in 1954 David enrolled at McGill's Faculty of Education, then located at MacDonald College, and upon graduation in 1956 accepted his first teaching position at the new high school in Rosemere, Quebec.

While teaching he continued studying at night at Sir George Williams' University. The commute in the evenings from Rosemere proved very long and the following year he moved to Royal George High School in Greenfield Park, only a streetcar ride to Montreal and University. During the winter of 1957-58 Dave started to date Marilyn Turriff and following a whirlwind courtship they were married in November 1958.

The following year Dave accepted a teaching position at the new high school in Otterburn Park and they moved to a rented bungalow in that village located on the banks of the Richelieu River and in the shadow of Mt. St. Hilaire. In 1963 David was promoted to Vice-Principal and they built their first house, a brick bungalow.

With two daughters having joined the family and with a third, Kenneth well on his way, in 1965 David accepted his first school principal ship of the Temiscaming High School. This meant trying to sell the house in Otterburn Park, and moving almost 500 miles to Temiscaming a paper mill town located on the banks of the Ottawa River about 40 miles north of North Bay, Ontario. In 1967, their fourth child, Karen was born.

In 1968 Dave was offered and accepted his second position as a school principal, of the new Pontiac Regional High School in Shawville, a farming center in the Ottawa Valley located about fifty miles up river from Ottawa on the Quebec side of the River across from Renfrew Ontario. After seven years as principal, Dave was named to the post of Director General of the Regional School Board. As such he was CEO of a Board responsible for all English Protestant education the Ottawa Valley from Montebello to Temiscaming and North to James and Ungava Bays.

The family remained in Shawville but the Board offices were in Gatineau and this meant a commute of 50 miles one-way each day. The children were generally sleeping when he left in the morning and often in bed when he arrived home from a school board meeting. Marilyn was left to raise the children almost by herself.

In addition, in order to adequately supervise the schools in this vast territory, much time was spent away from home. Air Canada flew from Montreal to Ottawa and then on to Val d'Or, Rouyn-Noranda and North Bay and from these “hubs” local transportation had to be arranged to out-lying schools at Temiscaming, Matagami, and Amos etc.

A year of this routine was enough and when the position of Director General of the Pontiac Community Hospital came open in early summer of 1976 Dave applied for the job. He was selected for the position and entered into an entirely new career. Feeling the need for more training he enrolled in the course in hospital administration offered by the Canadian College of Health Service Executives. This was an extension course with summer sessions at the University of Ottawa. The Pontiac Community Hospital was in Shawville and the children were able to continue their education without disruption.

In 1981 Dave accepted the position of Director General at the Sherbrooke Hospital (le centre hospitalier de Sherbrooke). This was a teaching hospital affiliated with the université de Sherbrooke and it allowed him to combine his love of education with his new interest in hospital management. He also served on the executive of the Regional Health Council (CRSSS-E) and for three terms on the Board of Bishop's University during which time he chaired a number of committees including the Executive Committee and the Human Resources Committee.

In the 1980's the Quebec Civil Servants Pension Plan (RREGOP) created such a surplus (remember when CSBs were paying 18% and mortgages went to 22%) that it had all kinds of money, more than it needed to meet its obligations. As a result they offered full pension without an actuarial reduction to anyone who had 35 or more years of service. Therefore David elected to retire in July 1991, 37 years after leaving CCHS.

David & Marilyn moved to his family's ancestral home of Brockville, ON where he became part of the seventh consecutive generation to live there. They began landscaping their new home and joined the Brockville and District Horticultural Society. They both served on the executive and Marilyn eventually became president while David continues to produce their newsletter.

Because both also have Loyalist ancestors in this area they joined the Leeds and Grenville Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. David served on the Executive and as Secretary and Chairman. Later was asked to represent OGS branches from outside the major cities on a special committee to restructure the OGS and met in Toronto for two years on the work of that committee. He admits “I must have talked too much as I was asked to run for Vice-President of the Society in 2000. I served on the Executive as V-P 2000-2002, President 2002-2004 and Past President 2004-2006.”
He continues, “Marilyn and I have also joined the Col. Ed. Jessup branch of the U.E. Loyalist Society. I continue to serve as a docent and research aid in the Archives of the Leeds and Grenville Branch of the OGS and on their executive.” 

In the Spring of this year (2007), the OGS nominated David for a Volunteer Service Award of the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration in recognition of his fifteen years of genealogical activity and he received this award at a ceremony in Kingston, ON last month.

Marilyn and Dave celebrated his birthday May, 2007 with their children Ken in back, Laurel, Janet and Karen in front.