David Trank

Friendly and thoughtful, David Scott Trank enjoyed doing things for people and took pride in a job well done. He loved his family and consistently put their needs before his own. David was a man that anyone would be proud to call father, husband, or son. Although the 50s are often depicted as a perky decade of poodle skirts, milk shakes, and rocknroll, events such as the McCarthy hearings, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, and the groundwork for the Vietnam War were ready to rock the world. The birth of their first child, David, was just as revolutionary to Albert and Ada (Wilson) Trank as their lives would never be the same after his arrival on August 7, 1954. The Tranks lived in Newcastle, Maine, and their home near the coast was kept bustling by David and the three siblings who later joined him. He and Diane, Donald, and Denice experienced the typical annoyances, pranks, and laughter that normal, loving households share. While growing up, David enjoyed Boy Scouts and was selected to be a member of the Order of the Arrow, the Scouts National Honor Society. He completed his involvement just one merit badge away from Eagle Scout. The character traits of responsibility and trustworthiness that Scouting encouraged influenced him during what was to be the most difficult time of his young life. When David was just fifteen years old, his father passed away. As the oldest child, David shouldered much of the responsibility of the household. David attended Lincoln Academy, a private high school in Newcastle, where he was on the yearbook staff and also spent a summer in Austria as an exchange student. After graduateing he enrolled at the University of Maine in Orono where he majored in Chemical Engineering and spent his summers painting houses to help pay for his tuition. He earned a co-op job with Scott Paper Company and his talent and diligence were rewarded when they hired him to work at the SD Warren Paper Mill in Skowhegan. His employer encouraged him to get his Masters Degree, which he did even though money was tight. Davids job was a relatively male-dominated field, so his friends encouraged him to place a personal ad in the Maine Times, a granola newspaper that was environmentally conscious and politically left of center. Among the many bizarre replies was one that got Davids attention simply because it was normal. The writer was a woman named Jocelyn Shaw, a research assistant writing grants for the Rural Health Centers Project in Augusta who had also been encouraged by her friends to try the personal ads. After a month of phone calls and letters, they met, Jocelyn in her sweater and plaid skirt and David in a coat and tie. The date was a success. Six months later, they moved in together. After a short engagement, they exchanged vows in Jocelyns parents backyard in North Smithfield, Rhode Island, on August 14, 1982. They bought a charming brick house on a hill in Fairfield, Maine, and added a few cats to their family. A little over a year passed and the newlyweds were thrilled to learn that they were expecting a child. In 1984, their son Ethan was born, but they received devastating news. Tiny Ethan had a heart defect and only lived three days. That short taste of parenthood gave David and Jocelyn the greatest joy and pain a person can bear, and they longed for another baby. Thirteen months later, they received their daughter Megan with immeasurable delight. They counted themselves doubly blessed when their son Zachary was born 1987. That same year, David was offered a promotion at a new location, the paper mill in Muskegon, Michigan. In November, he and Jocelyn bought a house on Hanover in North Muskegon. They liked the small town atmosphere and were never interested in moving from their original home. Sappi eventually purchased the mill and David continued to advance, becoming their Chief Engineer. He was a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers - Muskegon Chapter, and also spent time as a teacher in the math department at Muskegon Community College. The Tranks were open and caring people and developed close friendships with the Hollmaier, Czerney, and Novoselick families, sharing monthly dinners and train trips to Chicago. On the day after Thanksgiving, the Tranks and Novoselicks went on their annual hunt the wild Christmas tree, searching tree farms in Cloverville or Windy Pines for the perfect one. David and Jocelyn also joined St. Gregory Episcopal Church, making friends and participating in activities there. David was a devoted father and spent as much time as he could with his kids. He attended all of their school activities and sporting events, coached Zachs soccer team, and accompanied Megan on father-daughter Girl Scout overnights. He was a Cub Scout pack master when Zach was young and later became involved with the North Muskegon Band Parents, loving the socialization of working the concession stand at football games. Summers often found the family on the road to Maine and Rhode Island to visit relatives, and in 2007, David and Zachary took a memorable camping trip where they triumphantly climbed rugged, mile-high Mt. Katahdin, home of the northern end of the Appalachian Trail. In 1997, David and Jocelyn bought a 30 Catalina sailboat and joined the Muskegon Yacht Club. He became involved with the Race Committee, laying out the course and keeping times for the Wednesday night races for many years. As a family, they enjoyed day sailing on Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan. David had other hobbies, as well. When he took up woodworking, he applied the same diligence and care that he did to everything else, making beautiful custom furniture until arthritis began to limit him. After the kids went to college, he sold the boat and began cooking, an activity he enjoyed and Jocelyn didnt mind leaving to him. David struggled with some health issues for years, but he endured them without complaint. On Friday, August 24, 2007, after working the concession stand at the first football game of the season, David collapsed at home unexpectedly and died. His life ended the way he had lived it; sharing good times with friends and loved ones. He has given all who knew him the shining example of a man of integrity, commitment, and loyalty. David is survived by his wife, Jocelyn; a son, Zachary Trank; a daughter, Megan Trank; two sisters, Diane (Tom) Bishop of Kansas and Denice (Paul) Millander of North Carolina; a brother, Donald Trank of Kansas; and several nieces and nephews. A son, Ethan, and his parents, Albert and Ada Trank, preceded him in death. Davids memorial service will be Wednesday, August 29, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church with Fr. David Brower officiating. Friends may join the family during the visitation on Tuesday, August 28, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Clock Life Story Funeral Home. Memorial donations may be made to St. Gregory's Episcopal Church or the March of Dimes. Please visit Davids personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you may share a favorite memory or photo, or sign the online guest register.