David Frederick Seitz

David Frederick Seitz, 76, passed away on May 19, 2017 after a long illness. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1940, he was the second of four sons to the late Robert Otto Seitz Jr. and Carol Emily Seitz (Scheuerman). During his early years he spent much of his childhood in Madison, Maryland exploring and sailing on his beloved Chesapeake Bay where he enjoyed diving for blue crab. Following graduation from Cambridge High School in 1958, he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he worked surveying roads in Georgetown, Colorado and Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs. While stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he fell in love with the beauty of Western United States and several years after his honorable discharge he relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. He embraced life in the west where he met and married his deeply loved wife Jean Patricia in 1972. They enjoyed a life of road trips and traveling, camping, and raising their two daughters, Kathryn and Deanna. He appreciated intellectual challenges like sudoku and crossword puzzles (“Damn you, Will Shortz!) and he was a prolific reader and early, life-long fan of Stephen King. As a young man he was an artist who loved to sketch and draw, which stayed with him the rest of his life. A world-class tinkerer, he also enjoyed working on projects around the house. However, above all else, his favorite thing to do was spend time with his family. Professionally, he was an aerospace machinist producing parts for the NASA Space Shuttle Program, and after a successful career at various companies including Allied Signal and Honeywell, he retired in 2002. In retirement he and his wife split their time between Glendale, Arizona and Frisco, Colorado. David is survived by his devoted wife of 45 years Jean Patricia Seitz (Marino); two daughters, Katie Seitz (Darron Vanaria) and Deanna Seitz (Ian Farrell) of Denver, Colorado; two granddaughters; three brothers, Robert Seitz III (Linda) of Glendale, Arizona, Paul Seitz (Theresa) of Glenside, Pennsylvania, and Jim Seitz (Michele) of Mohnton, Pennsylvania; and numerous other family and friends who adored him. He was a truly kind, genuine man who was known as Davey, ddbogs (a special nickname given to him by his mother), David, Daddy and Popi, and he will be deeply missed by so many. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Free Arts at http://www.freeartsaz.org/donate/ a charity that uses the healing powers of the arts to help abused and homeless children.