David William Wright

David William Wright
October 19, 1923 to March 26, 2008
"Soldier, Scientist, Inventor, Husband, and Our Daddy"
David Wright is survived by wife Margaret, 5 Children ; Susan (Arlyn Whitchurch), D. Scott Wright,
Peggy Anderson, Jonna (Rick Siegrist), Sara (Jay Gerber). Eight Grandchildren, Aimee, Erynn, Hanna, Conor, Alice, Nicholas, Kristin, Jenny. 6 Great Grand Children Isaiah David, Isaac Micah, Jaden Daniel, Marek Xalen, Michael Joseph, Sierra Rose (Abigaile Michelle, Alyssah Catherine - deceased April 24, 2007) and another on the way.

David William Wright was born Oct 19, 1923 in Pittsburg, KS. He had one sister Jessie born July 4, 1925.
A year later, his family moved to Ft Scott, Ks. His sister, Jessie, arrived July 4, 1925. The 1929 Market Crash saw his dad's very profitable wholesale shoe business, like so many others, failing. He sold insurance for a year, often being paid with beans, and produce, and livestock. Arthur Wright (father)
Worked for the Kansas State Highway Patrol, and even chased Bonnie and Clyde to the Oklahoma border. At 12 yrs of age, the now 6 ft. David often spent weekends riding shotgun, then his dad was assigned as bodyguard to Alf Landon, a presidential hopeful. David's father help positions in several states training prison guards including the prestigious position of training guards at the new Federal correctional Institute on south Kipling in Littleton, Colorado. David graduated from High School at 15 and attended Denver University at the age of 16. At the age of 19 he was drafted into the Army Air Corps, taking his basic training at Lowry. He hoped to become a pilot, but was too tall. Instead he learned to repair and maintain P-47 Machine Guns, and laying on his back, foot pushing bombs into the bay. David then traveled to England on the Queen Mary, where he spent many hours being sea sick and sleeping on the deck. After D Day he was sent to Normandy and served at various bases in England, France, and Germany.
David and Margaret met at the 1st Presbyterian church in downtown Denver in November of 1947 (true love at first site) Engaged January 3rd 1948, Married August 29th, 1948. David was hired by Julius Hyman Chemical Co at the Rock Mountain Arsenal, later to become Shell Chemical Co., where he worked for 31 years, Everyday taking his favorite lunch, a Swiss cheese sandwich. David's name was on many patent's, including the development of the cement used for Hover Dam, the Shell no-pest strip, Aldrin and Dieldrin-considered the best insecticides ever.
The Good Lord blessed us with 5 wonderful children, 4 daughters, 1 son, plus 8 grandchildren, and 6  great grand children. During our 59 year marriage we traveled across the United States visiting 43 states in our trailer, even through a Hurricane. We traveled to Mexico, Canada, and even Hawaii. We would have celebrated our 60th anniversary in August. David loved our Great God and Jesus our Savior, and though not afraid of death, hoped he had years yet, but as Proverbs 16:1 says, "We may make plans, but God has the last word."

Remember Only My Best
When I come to the end of my journey and I travel my last weary mile, just forget if you can, that I ever frowned and remember only the smile. Forget unkind words I have spoken; remember some good I have done. Forget that I ever had heartache and remember I've had loads of fun. Forget that I have stumbled and blundered and sometimes fell by the way. Remember I have fought some hard battles and son, ere the close of the day. Then forget to grieve for my going, I would not have a sad day. But in Summer just gather some flowers and remember the place where I lay, and come in the evening when the sun paints the sky in the west, stand for a moment beside me and remember only my best.

We love you Daddy,
Susan, Scott, Peggy, Jonna, Sara
March 31, 2008

Eulogy for David William Wright (1923-2008)

My father was not a great man. He was a good man.
I have been thinking a lot about this recently because of other things going on in my life and in my children's lives. I have come to the conclusion that there is a BIG difference between a "Great Man" and a "Good Man".
Great Men have buildings and parks named after them. They make headlines and create waves, sometimes storms, in the ocean of life.
Good Men work day after day in the buildings and companies owned by the Great Men, often at thankless tasks for a pittance compared to the compensation received by the Great Men, and Good Men play with their kids in the parks named after Great Men. The Good Men read about the Great Men in the headlines and worry about how not to get swamped by the waves that have been created around them.
A man can act good and talk good and look good and not do any good. This is something that, in my memory, was never true of my dad. He tried to do good as often as possible.
When I was a little one, we lived in a house pretty close to the intersection of the Valley Highway-you newcomers will know it by its official name of I-25 -- and Colorado Blvd. At that intersection, Colorado Blvd passes over the highway. Ever since the construction on the highway underpass there was finished, it has been notorious for one thing: it's too low and collects water when it rains. One of my earliest memories of my dad is of him in hip wader boots going out the door of that house to help rescue some poor hapless soul who had mistakenly driven into a 3-ft deep puddle and drowned his car. My dad was going down to the intersection, a couple of blocks from the house, to see what he could do to help. Mostly, the people he was helping were just like himself - stuck in a predicament not of their own making, but needing someone else's help to get out and he felt he was the one to assist.
Often being a Good Man gets in the way of being a Great Man. I'm not going to say that no Great Man is a Good Man or that a Good Man cannot become a Great Man, but, in my experience, the two seem to be mutually exclusive. I think this is because a Great Man thinks of himself more often than he thinks of others and a Good Man thinks more often of others than he thinks of himself, often to his detriment.
I think that sort of sums up the type of person he was - he would help. Strangers who needed rescuing, the Boy Scout troop that needed an assistant leader, the group that needed something hauled, the church that needed help here and there - weeding, mowing, changing the sign before services, serving as an elder, serving as head usher - whatever he could do to help.
In addition, he could fix and build things - faucets, and other minor household repairs, of course, but he could also build pretty major things - he finished the basement in both the houses we lived in. This is a fascinating thing to a child - that one of the major adults in your life can operate loud, heavy tools and manipulate seemingly impossible things like 2x4s and sheet rock to create a space to call your own. He set the bar very high - I thought ALL men could do those things. I was very disappointed in my first serious boyfriend because he couldn't do ANY of those things and his way of dealing with household travails was to call someone in to help and then pay for it. This was a foreign concept to me - I had been raised to believe that if something needed doing in the house or on the car that a good man knew how to do whatever was necessary and the only money involved was the purchase of the components. Imagine my shock when I discovered that men did not automatically know what to do with tools. My boyfriend built a set of shelves for my apartment when I was in college. I knew the relationship was doomed when the shelf unit leaned to one side and collapsed shortly after the first couple of books were loaded onto it. My dad had set the example and I knew I could not ever have a serious, long-term relationship with someone who had not been initiated into the mysteries of the tool box.
We're here today because of the passing of a man who might not have been a Great Man in the eyes of the world - there are no parks or big buildings named after him and there never will be. But in the eyes of the people who were important in his life - his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren, his extended family and friends, he was a Good Man and that's what made him great. I will miss him.

Susan Wright Whitchurch

Private family graveside service at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Memorial service Cornerstone Community Church Monday, March 31, 2008 at 11:00 a.m.. Friends who wish may make memorial contributions in David's name to Cornerstone Community Church, 14140 E. Evans Avenue, Aurora, CO 80014.