David died on May 21, 2009 in Springfield, MO after a long illness. He was born April 13, 1921 in New York, the oldest of 4 children and the only boy in the family. At the age of 13, his father died and he assumed the role of male head of the household, helping to support his mother and 3 sisters during the Depression. At 20, the U.S. entered WW II and he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He became a navigator on an air transport plane and flew all over the Pacific until the end of the war. After returning home to New York, he met a girl from North Dakota, Merry Margaret Adams, and they were married in 1948. They moved to Minneapolis where their oldest child was born in 1949. Then in 1951, he took a sales job with a company in Milwaukee and moved to Dallas, TX to open a new territory for them. There, 3 more children were born. He and Merry lived in Dallas for the next 50 years, raising 4 children, numerous dogs and making many friends. In 2002 they moved to Springfield, MO to be closer to their oldest son due to Merry's failing health. She died in 2003 and in 2005 David met a widow, Virginia Treptow and they became dear friends until her death this past winter. David was known for his intelligence, self reliance, motivation, honesty, generosity, devotion to his family and his love of a good joke, especially if it required an accent for proper telling. He was always positive and outgoing, often to his children's embarrassment, and loved baseball, horse racing, his grandchildren and the opera. He is survived by 3 children, Dr. Thomas Froehlich, Peter Froehlich and Anne Becker, 6 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and his 3 sisters, Kay Black, Betty Brown and Clair Vartain. We will all miss him but he has left us with many wonderful memories. Funeral Mass will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, May 25, 2009 in Mercy Villa Chapel with Father Paul McLoughlin celebrant, under the direction of Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. A prayer service will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday in the funeral home. Burial will be in Maple Park Cemetery on Tuesday.