David Charles Kerns, 1963-2025
David always wanted to understand,
how to solve a puzzle intrigued him,
to understand a person and what they needed, intrigued him,
the victory of his will over a problem, drove him,
born in San Antonio, Texas, he was an "Air Force brat,"
traveling where the Service needed the family to go,
high school in Mount Holly, New Jersey, where he met Nancy,
with whom he reconnected in marriage at age 47,
the daughters he brought with him into the partnership
vital to his soul,
at 19 he joined the Air Force and served for ten years,
taking advantage of the learning opportunities
and getting out of New Jersey,
in his 20s he was part of the military police,
then a probation counselor,
for his whole life nature was first in his heart:
watching, listening, figuring out the patterns,
he loved fishing and landed the salmon,
he loved hunting: deer, a bear, ducks,
loving to be in a house
by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
where nature swallowed him,
his dream job? a forest ranger,
reality intruded, and he needed to find a career
that he was good at, and that paid the bills,
his dad died long before,
and he brought his mother to Knoxville
to live next door to them,
she needed a sun room, so he built it,
and he discovered how good he was at building,
so he became a contractor and constructed what needed to be built,
his mathematical logical mind
and his skill with the physical and with people
keying his success,
concrete and wood ways to take care of people,
in his last months, as he slipped away,
his wife was overwhelmed by how many people
were drawn to him in the passing,
people he had touched, who remembered his gifts,
and treasured this big-hearted man,
who saw them, who knew them,
who connected so freely and lovingly with them,
his brain was as impressive as his heart:
two master's degrees, including one in economics,
loving to read, loving to think,
loving to figure how to help,
a dry sense of humor,
a jack of all trades,
not one who would fall for being fooled,
hesitant to use words rather than actions
to express his heart,
but when a grandchild called for "Pop Pop,"
he was there and smitten,
his will a power upon the world:
he fell, and broke three bones in each foot,
and did not pay money he did not have for the doctor,
instead, taping it up, and persevering,
when the cancer came and came at him,
he endured, he persevered, until he couldn't,
when he was in Alaska,
he was told not to go by himself into the woods,
so, of course, he did,
and shared the world with a grizzly, but not an ending,
most of us would never cross him,
only cancer got away with it,
there was a wonder to David,
if you knew him, you are better off for that knowing.
by Henry H. Walker
October 13, ‘25