David William Hettig

I met David as a member of the second class of the revitalized Sigma Nu, soon to become Beta Chi because we wanted to be able to pledge a black (the National Sigma Nu, by the way, told us that we individually could not withdraw--once a brother, always...  Somehow we managed it).  David and Ted Striggles came up to Medford in a highly unreliable Austin Healy one summer to see some Shakespeare at Ashland, drink beer on the Applegate River and generally mix culture with degeneracy as David did so successfully during his life.

After years appart, David flew in to visit us in Bozeman and invited us to join a 14 person expedition down the Tatchenshini River starting in the Yukon and ending in Glacier Bay, Alaska. He was "Head Rhino", which basically meant that he got the first opportunity to express an opinion, whereafter all the males in the party would express differing ideas and we wouid end up chasing canoe paddles down the bank after flipping the ferry raft.  With two persons to a raft and three meals around the fire for two weeks, Leah and I got to know David and Nan in a way that our disparate lives otherwise would not have allowed.  He was a gentle and good humored soul, a person of intellect, and a good and valued friend, and all of those things, and more, comprise a memory to be cherished.

David and I shared our twenties together in the mid-1960's and early 1970's.  In those formative years, David was the most influencial person that I ever knew. I still maintain his thoughtful views on politics, culture, physical well-being, and academics.
I dropped my conservative politcal outlook when he showed me how less priveleged people were forced to live; he explained  to me among other things, the difference between barque, classical and romantic music; we joined other joggers on the road, hikers in the mountains, and divers in the ocean; and he patiently taught me how to write a decent paragraph and to study effectively for difficult exams. David's death leaves a deep and sad pain for all of us who had the joy of knowing him.

Dave was my parents' estate attorney, and I met with him and his associates a number of times in that connection in the 1980s and early 1990s.  But, even before that, I heard of him many times from my parents, with great enthusiasm for him and his work with them.  His outdoor connections came through loud and clear, then, but I didn't know of his commitment to human rights around the world - a commitment we shared, as I was part of the US team completing the negotiations on the UN human rights covenants in the mid 1960s, and today continue that commitment as a member of the Leo Nevas Human Rights Task Force of the United Nations Association of the USA.  Dave's commitment to Alaska, too, brings us together, since my niece has worked there, my mother traveled there, and my daughter - now a research ecologist - fly to the Canadian arctic the day after her wedding to continue her research on invasive speecies.  Dave's contributions to my family have continued to the present through a health trust established under the will of my mother which helped my sister until her recent death.  So, this is but one more mark of appreciation of Dave for the Hettig family.  

David was my neighbor for many years. having met him when he was friends with Maxine Aurbach, a class mate of his at USF Law School. He was a good sport who rolled with the punches of the budding feminist movement in the early 70's, dodging one tricky relationship after another with humor and his beautiful gentle manners. I think of him as a rock, so solid and true to his own heart beat. He was always there just living his life the way he wanted. Easy, steady and not in the way. Good bye, old friend.
 

I can’t bring myself to delete that last email from David dated 6/29 at 6:20 pm. We had just shared a delightful lunch together. In fact, we got to talking so much they had to kick us out of the restaurant! That’s how time spent with David was, always engaging and relaxed and personal. We shared all kinds of things, we shared family stories and personal challenges and professional news. We shared travels and movies and wine. He was my client and I was his. We also shared clients together. He will always be a special person in my life, a person who radiated goodness, compassion and curiosity. How lucky I was to have David in my life!