David Churchill Obituary

David L. Churchill SUMMERVILLE - David Leroy Churchill, 83, of Summerville died at home on Sunday, November 24, 2013 surrounded by family. He is survived by Janet Churchill, his wife of 59 years, and two children whose love he cherished, son Glenn (Lisa) Churchill of Mt. Pleasant and daughter Ellen (Lamar) Carney and grandchildren Christine, Cotter, and Samantha Smith, all of Summerville. Two brothers also survive, Thomas Churchill of Albrightsville, PA, and Charles Churchill of Sun City Center, FL. He was pre-deceased by his parents, Leroy P. Churchill and Olive S. Churchill, and a son-in-law, Spencer M. Smith. Dave was born June 12, 1930 in Bloomfield, NJ. He graduated from Pompton Lakes High School in 1948 and magna cum laude from Rutgers University in 1952 where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He received an Air Force ROTC commission, spent a year becoming fluent in Russian, and served for three years as a cryptolinguist for the National Security Agency. In 1956 he was hired by the Linde Division of Union Carbide and began a 35-year career working mostly as a manager in the marketing of industrial gases and related equipment for Linde and two successor companies with offices in Buffalo, San Francisco, Cleveland, Wilmington, NC, and Florence, SC, retiring as Product Business Manager for ESAB Welding Products. He was a voracious reader and loved learning. In his retirement years, he took six courses at the College of Charleston, taking all of the tests and writing all of the papers. He also served as a literacy tutor, guardian-ad-litem, and found host families for 21 foreign high school exchange students. He was the President of the Rutgers Alumni Club of South Carolina from 1996 until just prior to his death. Under his guidance, the club received many honors, and he was recognized by the University as a Loyal Son of Rutgers and given the Meritorious Service Award. He was a member of Chi Phi Fraternity, the Sons of the American Revolution, and was a founding board member, past treasurer and scholarship chairman of the Lowcountry Phi Beta Kappa Association. Dave was a member of Summerville Presbyterian Church and a service celebrating his life will be held there on Monday, December 2, at 11:00 AM. The family would like to thank Roper Hospice and Dave's nurse and aide for their kindness and loving care. A memorial message may be written to the family by visiting our website at www.tricountycremationcenter.com ARRANGEMENTS BY TRI-COUNTY CREMATION CENTER, 11000 DORCHESTER ROAD, SUMMERVILLE, SC (843) 821-4888. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston