WHERE'S DAVE WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
Last week’s blog post at sharonmarkcohen.com, We Need to Remember, dated July 30, 2024, says it all. This week, I’m remembering Dave Otis.
It’s striking how many friends and relatives we have been memorializing lately. In the past few years, we’ve donated to more charities in memory of loved ones than I can count on all my fingers and toes multiple times. My mantra that everyone deserves a legacy has come into play too many times for me as a writer and a journalist. Here I go again.
On July 11, 2024, Carol,* who religiously reads my weekly blog posts and comments via email, additionally wrote in part: “Happy to feel a little bit of relief this morning, although it’s going to be 90 by this afternoon. I really mind the heat so I only venture out when I have to do gardening and try to follow the shade. I’m also staying inside by necessity most of the time because I can’t drive. I broke my right foot last week, just ever so slightly turned my ankle at the cemetery and found out that my foot was broken two days later. I have to wear this awful knee-high boot for two weeks. Our annual shore rental is coming up on the 27th and I had all kinds of errands I wanted to run (and look for a bathing suit) leading up to that so I better not have to wear this thing longer than two weeks. I really am not in any pain, but it is a pain having to wear this!”
That email prompted me to write about Carol’s wonderful husband, Dave, whom we only met once before his untimely diagnosis and death from cancer. Our fondest memories from that single delightful evening will endure. How apropos, the photo of the four of us was taken halfway between our homes, outside the Old Blacksmith Shop, at the home of WDVRFM.org radio, in Sergeantsville, New Jersey.
While Carol’s faith provides strength, allowing her to eloquently describe her family’s love for Dave as “The time we had was wonderful,” there’s still a question. As Carol does her best to maneuver with a broken foot, that question remains, where’s Dave when you need him?
David J. Otis August 07, 1945 - May 07, 2024
Obituary
David J. Otis
August 07, 1945 - May 07, 2024
David J. Otis
1945 – 2024
David J. Otis age 78, of Drexel Hill died peacefully May 7, 2024. David is the son of the late
John and Barbara (nee Kennedy) Otis. He is survived by his beloved wife of 51 years Carol (nee
Cherry) Otis, loving daughter Carolyn (Matthew) Honeyman and cherished grandchildren Lily
and Ben. He is also survived by his sisters-in-law Joanne (Howard, predeceased) Bailer and Norie
(Robert) Kealey. David will always be remembered for his love and devotion as a husband, father
and grandfather.
David was born in Little Falls, New York. He was a graduate of Croton-Harmon High School
and Gettysburg College. He was drafted into the United States Army during law school at
Villanova University and served for 2 years. He returned to Villanova and graduated in 1972. He
worked as an attorney in Delaware and Montgomery Counties for 40 years until his retirement in
2014.
David was an avid reader and history buff, enjoyed spending time in the Adirondack mountains
hiking, going to Sea Isle with his family each summer, and was a dedicated Phillies fan. He and
Carol have been Phillies season ticket holders for 47 years. But David’s most loved past time in
recent years was being with his grandchildren. He retired shortly after his granddaughter Lily was
born, and at that time spent countless hours playing and taking her to the park, creating a bond
that has continued as she’s gotten older. He passed his love of baseball on to his grandson Ben
and used his well-loved baseball mitt to “have a catch” anytime they were together. He loved
spending time on the sidelines of all their sporting events.
Relatives and friends are invited to his Funeral Monday, May 13, 2024, 9-10:45am at St.
Dorothy Church, 4910 Township Line Road, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026 where his Funeral
Mass will follow at 11am. Interment Arlington Cemetery, Drexel Hill, PA
In lieu of flowers donations in David’s memory may be made to the American Cancer Society or
the Charity of the donors’ choice.
https://www.cancer.org
Disclaimer - The below flower and tree options were not selected or endorsed by the family
however we are unable to remove these options as they are a part of the website’s
revenue system that keeps it online. Thank you for your understanding.
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*We met Carol over 20 years ago at the Bradley Communications Publicity Summit I attended with my husband. There, attendees pitched him to be a guest on his radio show, The World of Work, broadcasted on WDVRFM.org. The sessions were held twice yearly at the recently demolished Hotel Pennsylvania, across from Penn Station in New York City. Arnee and I would take the train from New Jersey and Carol, a recently retired Research Manager at Bradley Communications traveled from her home outside Philadelphia.
That was where Carol and I developed a friendship that heightened when Carol became a regular reader and commenter of my weekly blog posts, which started six years ago. During the pandemic the Publicity Summit became virtual, where we would see Carol for a brief hello in the breakout rooms. Since becoming friends, we look forward to our weekly emails, especially discussing how our lives have paralleled in so many ways.
Carol, I’m sorry we live so far apart. However far, I’m here to listen when you need me. That goes for all my friends. As long as we live on the earth we must be here for one another. It’s good people like Dave who shine an everlasting guiding light.
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Responding to my latest blog post, We Need to Remember, dated July 30, 2024, Carol reported on more of our endlessly seeming similarities. I’m not going into details except to say she planted blue hydrangeas in Dave’s memory. During a short back and forth and her approval of my using her quote, she told me they planted lilies when their granddaughter Lily was born.
Leave it to Carol to encourage me during her time of mourning. Her response when I wrote, “Lily bulbs for Lily, I love it!! She must enjoy seeing them blossom as you enjoy watching her bloom!!,” was, “Love your paragraph about Lily! That’s why you are doing what you should be doing—-writing for the world to see!”