David Dale McAllister
MCALLISTER, BARNES
Posted By: Lisa M. Ciha (email)
Date: 5/16/2018 at 08:29:10
It is with great sadness that the family of David McAllister Sr. announces his passing after a brief illness, Monday, May 14, 2018, at the age of 70.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, at Gay & Ciha Funeral Home in Iowa City, Iowa, with internment to follow at the Lone Tree Cemetery in Lone Tree, with military honors. Rev. Randy Parker will officiate. Join family and friends for a visitation at Gay & Ciha Funeral Home Friday evening from 4-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established in David’s name. The family urges you to share memories, thoughts or condolences or to view a more complete obituary on the funeral home website @ www.gayandciha.com
David Dale McAllister was born to Virginia and Charles McAllister on June 11, 1947 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the third of three sons. A young man in love with music and sports, he graduated from Portage High School in Michigan. Shortly after graduation he voluntarily joined the United States Navy as the Vietnam War raged far away overseas. He served four year-long, active duty deployments aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard. Aboard that same ship served Admiral Stephen Morrison, father of The Doors frontman, Jim Morrison.
After mustering out of the Navy, David married Alice Barnes on May 8, 1971 in Iowa City, where the couple permanently relocated. The couple would remain married for 47 years until his passing. After a couple years at Muscatine Junior College, he chose a career as an optician. For the next 30-plus years he worked in the optical field, while away from the job falling deeply in love with golf. He embraced the Iowa Hawkeyes as his own, although never losing his ties to the Michigan Wolverines and his beloved Detroit Tigers.
In 1974 his first child was born, a son the couple named David Jr. Two years later David and Alice introduced their second child to the world, a daughter named Lana Sue. The young family often returned to Michigan, specifically to visit his grandmother’s cabin near Traverse City, where he enjoyed fishing and boating on the lake.
David transitioned out of his optician work and became a licensed insurance agent for a number of years. However, after a managerial position opened at his home golf course, Fairview in Iowa City, he jumped at the opportunity to marry his greatest outdoor passion and his professional work. He remained course manager at Fairview for the next decade, until the course was eventually and sadly sold for development in the late 2000s. Unwilling to leave the workforce entirely after retiring, David spent the next six years driving school buses for Durham School Services, where he added to his ever-growing list of golfing buddies.
David’s greatest joy was being around people, a man for whom a stranger could become a friend in the duration of a quick conversation. He had a biting wit, a roaring sense of humor, and a gift of gregarious ease in the company of friends and strangers alike. He was the beating heart of a holiday party and the jokester shooting par on the golf course. He will be dearly and deeply missed by the countless people he touched throughout his life.
David’s family includes his wife Alice, his son David Jr. (Lynn Suyeko Mandziuk), his daughter Lana, his brother Tom (Robbie), and his doted-upon cat, Mooney, as well as numerous extended family and a host of good friends. He was preceded in death by his parents Charles and Virginia, his step-father Dick, and his brother Bill.
He will be missed every day for the rest of our lives.
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