David Linder

I saw David Martinez at the 2011 Saint’s Picnic and he told me that he’d had a stroke. I hadn’t noticed any effects, he seemed to be the same as last year. Then I saw that his chair was also a walker. (My wife often tells me that I’m not very observant but I don’t see it.)

At the picnic I heard that another David, my old partner in (minor) crimes David Linder, also had a stroke. Later in the week I ran into Tim Bynon at the Harbor Inn, he called David Linder’s sister, Terri, and got the details. It turned out that David had two strokes, the second one has landed him at Desert Highlands Care Center in Kingman, Arizona.

David was at our 40th reunion, joking around and happy like always. After graduation he joined the Navy and later lived near Parker on the Colorado River. Tim and I went to see him a couple of weeks ago. The Desert Highlands Care Center looks like a small hospital and David is sharing a room. He recognized us and responded but had trouble communicating. The conversation was disjointed and his attention seemed to come and go.

On the plus side David still has complete control of the TV remote which keeps him occupied most of the day, like a lot of people. Also under the three day old beard David still looked young like his sister, Terri, who somehow hasn’t aged with the rest of us. I attributed her good looks to clean living, now I’m thinking genes have a lot to do with it. If you can visit David click on this link and call for visiting hours. We hope he’s in your prayers.