Sometimes, you never really get a chance to say a final goodbye. You know the end is coming and yet humans are very good at pretending that the status quo will endure indefinitely, on our terms. I would suggest and in fact opine that God has alternative plans which will only become obvious to us when we are no longer roaming our little corner of the world. Yet we imagine that we have some type of control as to timing and duration. Good luck with that.

When I received word that Dave Mann had passed, I wasn’t completely surprised. I really wasn’t even sad in the true sense of the word, as Dave had lived a good long life, and he was battling the cancer that had been with him for many years. Mostly, I was nostalgic about a chapter in my life that included Dave in a most prominent way. You see Dave was a coworker, friend, confidante, and sidekick. The best thing you can say about the special people you meet in life is that they occupy a corner, a small quadrant of your brain, that is theirs and theirs alone. For me, Dave was that kind of person. The memories of Dave will last a lifetime. This in no way suggests that he was perfect; he wasn’t, none of us are, but he was special. If, at the end of my time on earth, a few people can say that I was special, I will be happy with that outcome.

I joined McKenzie Farms at a time of great tumult in my life as I had essentially failed in the world of financial services. I began that foray in 1989 with the lowest of expectations as I was a History Major, graduating in 1987 from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Nevertheless, I worked hard, learned about the world of markets / financial services and managed to “enjoy” a thirteen-year run which included the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. In retrospect, I walked away with a passion for markets as well as skills that have served me well all these years later. For that I am very grateful.  

In 2002 I joined the family business hoping for the best, yet fully cognizant of the fact that I was once again entering very unfamiliar waters, figuring that I did it once, perhaps I could do it again. Dave was one of the first people I met, and he was always kind, understanding, and helpful. The whole family had moved from Southern California to the Portland, Oregon area. It was a difficult decision, a tough move, and the beginning of a new chapter in life. It seems as though Dave and I hit it off immediately and I really appreciated the many things I learned about trucking and the Christmas tree business from Dave. I was involved in sales, and I soon learned that sales and trucking in the Christmas tree business are connected at the hip. Buying and selling trees is actually the easy part. Getting them from point A to point B in a timely and equitable manner is really what separates the men from the boys (growing the trees is also no easy task). Dave really understood this well and he passed on a great deal of this knowledge to me. He had been around it for so long. He was there for my parents when the business was brand new. Without Dave and his wife Gaylene’s expertise in trucking, there wouldn’t have been a McKenzie Farms. My Dad has mentioned this to me on numerous occasions.  

Dave, myself, and a host of characters worked together for many years in the Aurora “shipping trailer” during the actual harvest period during mid-November through mid-December, and I can honestly say it was one of the crazier things I have done in my life. Christmas tree veterans know exactly what I am referring to, and for the rest of you, trust me. Any business that generates 100% of its revenues in a thirty-day (roughly) time frame can empathize. The best and most surprising part is that we had a great time. We knew we all had to depend on one another. We knew we had to help one another. And we knew we had to keep our sense of humor keen or risk the possibility of real mental fatigue and breakdown. Dave was a big part of the culture we created. I have so many memories of those days, more than I could ever mention here. What I remember most is how hard we worked and how much we smiled and laughed through it all.

A couple funny things about Dave; Dave may have been the pickiest eater I have ever known. Also, he was perhaps the most bird-like eater I have ever known. I can’t tell you how many times I marveled at Dave’s lack of a hearty appetite (unlike myself) and the long list of items he would not eat. I remember the time we were traveling on one of our preharvest trucking trips to California when Dave and I found ourselves in a place that had Vietnamese writing on all of the buildings. It was truly like being in a foreign country. I was thrilled to find a restaurant that had only a Vietnamese language menu. No one in the restaurant spoke a lick of English. I remember Dave looking at the menu with a perplexed (OK frightened) look on his face. He was hungry but there was no way he would even consider trying any of it. I told Dave that it looked great to me, and that we would find him a Taco Bell after I ate. I ordered something that was so hot and spicy that I remember literally pouring sweat as I ate it. Dave thought this was the funniest thing he had ever seen. We took him to a Taco Bell, and he was happy as a clam. No hot sauce or lettuce of any kind of course.

On another occasion we were doing another trucker trip with Dave, myself, and Chris Reznicek. We had planned a lunch at the home of one of the truckers. They were doing a big barbeque for us at their high desert place that was part farm, part junk yard, part truck parking / maintenance yard, and part commune for several families (both human and four legged). The place was kind of a shambles, but we appreciated their hospitality and were ready to partake in whatever they had for us. Now I must say Chris was an equally picky eater, but he was fine with meat. They had plenty of meat (I think it was beef though it could have been almost anything). I remember watching Dave knowing the setting was ripe for a classic Dave moment. In typical Dave fashion, he told our hosts how nice their place was and how much he appreciated the barbeque. Dave cautiously prepared himself a sparse taco which was essentially a tortilla, a small amount of meat, and a little cheese. Again, trying to be gracious as Dave always was, I hear Dave say to our host. “That cheese is really good, what kind is it?” To which our host responds, “Monterrey Jack”, but with his thick Hispanic accent it sounds like this- “MONT e Ray Yak.” I watched as Dave’s eyes suddenly became the size of saucers and I immediately recognized (because I knew him so well), that Dave thought he was eating yak cheese. Luckily we had a variety of hardscrabble dogs around the table, and I watched as Dave deftly (and covertly) found an eager volunteer to wolf it down. I asked Dave later if he thought he was eating yak cheese, and in fact that is exactly what he thought. Chris and I laughed so hard, we were crying. This was an inside joke among the three of us and Gene Rocha for years to come. 

On another occasion, Dave and I were staying in Cabazon (near Palm Springs) and we needed to get on the road by mid-morning to see the drivers we planned to see. I was training for a marathon at the time and my plan was to get up at 3:00 AM drive to Joshua Tree National Park and do a 20-mile run into the park (near the southern entrance). Ten miles in and then back to my car.  It was kind of eerie, yet it was one of the coolest runs I have ever done. Running by starlight through Joshua Tree National Park with not another person / car for the entirety of the run. Being pressed for time when I got back to Cabazon, I threw on some clothes (no shower / no food / no shaving), and off we went. I had decided before the trip that I wouldn’t shave for the entire trip. I imagine I looked like hell, but our schedule was set. As Dave and I were searching for one of our destinations (GPS was a fairly new thing back then), we stopped to get gas, and I told Dave I would ask the guy pumping gas next to us if he knew the area. As I walk up to the guy he starts fishing in his pants for change to give me as he thinks I’m a bum apparently. He was some guy from Europe who spoke very little English. When I got back to the car and told Dave the story, he laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall over or pee his pants (perhaps both). I kidded Dave a lot and he relished those moments when he could poke fun at me. We joked about this story numerous times over the years and Dave loved it every time.

There are so many stories I could tell, I suppose I will finish with a mention about Dave’s attire “quirks.” We were convinced that Dave was still wearing clothes that he had worn in the 7th grade. Dave was living proof that if you wear something long enough, it will eventually come back in fashion. Perhaps the best part of this side of Dave was his tendency to layer even in summer weather. I remember being with Dave on a 100 degree plus day in Napa Valley, California. Dave is wearing jeans, an undershirt, a short sleeve shirt, and a jacket. It was unbelievable, and yet he was comfortable as can be though I believe he did shed the jacket at one point in time. The one time he did wear shorts on a trip to Palm Springs for team meeting, let’s just say “short shorts” and leave it at that. I’m not sure John Anderson remembers this, but I will never forget the look on his face. When the weather was cold, you could always expect a second coming of Nanook of the North. I believe I counted five layers and a jacket once. It was difficult at times to determine where the clothing ended, and Dave began. We had so much fun with this and Dave was always a great sport.

There is so much more I could say about Dave. Suffice it to say we loved him. He was Uncle Dave to all of us who knew him. We kidded him a lot, that is true, but remember this is how guys awkwardly show affection. I watched Dave interact with a lot of people over the years and I can genuinely say, Dave loved people. He once told me he planned to work forever because he wouldn’t know what to do with himself in a world devoid of all the people he interacted with on a daily basis. It looks like he got his wish.

Dave had special relationships with all of us at McKenzie Farms (which we sold in 2018). He and my Dad always had a special relationship. It was always fun to watch them interact. My sister Carey and her husband John were a part of the core beginnings of McKenzie Farms, you could always tell that they had been through a lot together and that there was a bond born of length and breadth. They had worked together for a long time, and they had been through a lot during that time. Kristina Roberts and Dave shared a trailer during the harvest time for many years. They always seemed to truly like and care for one another. Gene Rocha and Dave spent a lot of time with one another during our harvest period. Even after Gene no longer worked for us, there was always a connection. Chris Reznicsek, myself, and Dave travelled a lot together. Chris and Dave become very close as Chris was being groomed to play a prominent role in transportation once Dave became more involved with our Costco business. It was during our travels that I came up with the term “Driving Miss Davey”, as Dave would sit in the back of our rented car with his innumerable papers, pens, pencils, hats, and assorted other items while Chris and I took turns driving. We joked about it every year.  There are others I could mention such as Debbie Tedrow, Bob Campbell, Cubby Steinhardt, Allison Cook Castro, and Jerry Halamuda that had a connection with Dave.  The characteristics of the relationships were similar. Lots of smiles, lots of laughs, and a shared comradery that comes only through shared admiration and affection. I would finally add that Dave’s wife Gaylene was a true constant in his life, and you could really tell how devoted he was to her when you were around him.

Dave’s passing is a reminder of the passage of time and the memories that we create every day but fail to appreciate in the here and now. It takes time to realize what we HAD, and a hard-earned wisdom born of experience, to really appreciate the fact that special people in our lives touch our lives in ways which are difficult to articulate and process. They change us in a way that helps us to become better people through this association. Dave was that kind of guy. God was a steady part of Dave’s life though he was never particularly vocal about it. I feel quite sure he is in a better place and that his worries of this world are a distant memory. We all remember Dave fondly and carry a little bit of Dave around with us every day. 

“Yeah, we tease him a lot ‘cause we got him on the spot.”

John Sebastin- Welcome Back

TMC

9/3/24