David Pinkney McBrayer, III
September 9, 1927 - August 21, 2014
Obituary
David was born 9-9-27 on his families ancestral home-Romeville Plantation in Louisiana. He was the oldest child of David McBrayer II and his wife Estelle.
He is survived by his wife Alyce (Marty) Martenson McBrayer, daughter Melanie McBrayer Sauvain and grandson Cameron Sauvain.
Dave as he was known by all-completed his bucket list 86 years later having done many remarkable things, made many friends around the world and touched many lives. He enlisted in the Army, had to wait a bit due to young age, before choosing the Navy and serving during wartime on both the USS Hancock and USS Antietam. He returned stateside and graduated with honors from Georgia Tech with an Electrical Engineering degree. He met his future wife Alyce (Marty) and was quickly smitten by her beauty and intellect. They shared all life adventures together for over 64 years and all who knew him smiled at his seeking her wise counsel with all his decisions.
Dave started his career at Hazeltine in NY. He wanted to make a big impact on his field and felt this required a big company, so they crossed the US to settle in Seattle Washington, where they raised their daughter Melanie. He was an Electromagnetic Countermeasures expert and Boeing executive for 30 years and retired in his late 50’s. He had many hobbies and mentored many young people. One of his newfound hobbies having been raised in the south was skiing. He was one of the founders of Crystal Mountain Ski Resort where he was well-known to be making nonstop runs “I just need some exercise” he would comment as he headed into the lift line again. He continued his skiing career into his early 8th decade.
Once he retired, Dave and Marty then started the next chapter of their lives-wild animal safari, sport fishing and world travel. Over the next nearly 25 years they enjoyed travels all over the world. When Marty was queried, she could remember travel to: Mexico, Hawaii, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, England, France, Russia, China, Belgium, Dem. Rep of the Congo, Angola, Tajikistan, Central African Rep., South Africa, Canada as well as many places in the US. Marty was the photographer and they did many wonderful presentations of places- many had never seen.
David completed his personal bucket list in his 8th decade, by writing a book to improve safety on safari. As he noted he was “not a good typist” so he taught himself Dragon Speak and with the help of John Horner and wife Marty for the pictures, completed his final project.
On the early morning of sunny August 21st 2014, holding Marty’s hand he left this world for his next great adventure.
He will have a military service at Tahoma National Cemetery at 11:30 am on Tuesday September 2nd and all are invited.