Dave shares his story

Dave cheerfully admits that his 36-year career as a police officer, most of it served in Portland, Oregon, was probably foreordained, like it was in his DNA.

“I’m not sure I had a choice,” he says, the soft chuckle in his voice failing to hide the pride he has in his family’s law enforcement genealogy.

“My grandfather on my father’s side was a Portland police officer, and one of my uncles was a police officer, and then eventually after he got his master’s degree he became director of security for the federal electrical power administration up here in the Pacific Northwest.”

He continues, “I have five brothers and four of us have been police officers, and I’ve got three nephews and nieces that are police officers. And so it’s been a family business, for lack of a better term.”

After spending 28 years on the Portland police force, Dave and his wife decided to relocate to the Puget Sound area to be nearer their son and daughter and grandchildren. At the time, Dave figured it was time to step away from police work and spend some time in his woodworking shop and do a little fishing with the grandkids, but it didn’t work out exactly as planned.

“We moved up here and an old friend got a hold of me from the local Sheriff’s Office up here and he offered me a job. I said no, I’ve got more important things to do, I’ve got to paint the gutters and mow the lawn.” In the end, Dave finally caved and took the job and wound up spending the next eight years working in the Sheriff’s Office, becoming a robbery and homicide detective before retiring once again earlier this year. Although, as evidence that his DNA hasn’t been washed out of his system, Dave still keeps his hand in the law enforcement arena, serving as a part-time instructor at a private police academy.

Most days, he can be found in his woodworking shop, where he has put the finishing touches on a classic 17-foot skiff dating back to the early 1960s. “I spent two years rebuilding it and refinishing all the wood on it,” he says. “It’s beautiful, looks like it’s right out of the showroom.” He can also be seen at the helm of his gleaming craft cruising around one of the many lakes near his home or out on the Sound, a couple of grandkids aboard and fishing tackle in hand.

Dave looks back over his career in law enforcement with justifiable pride, even as he recounts the bumps, bruises and serious injuries along the way, broken bones and all. He credits his strong faith and an unswerving to the principles of truthfulness, integrity and accountability for guiding him along the way. “I think those principles have served me well,” he says.

He also thanks Prevagen for the help it gave him especially as he grew older in his long career in law enforcement. “I wasn’t getting any younger,” he says, “and I was experiencing some problems with my memory. As a police officer, memory is of utmost importance, sometimes in life or death situations.”

Dave may not have to face such situations anymore, but there are still many memories in his life that he loves recalling. For that, he says simply, “Thank you, Prevagen, you are the best.”