"It is with a very heavy heart and great sadness that I share with you the passing of David West Sunday afternoon. Words cannot do justice in describing what a positive difference David made in Tampa, especially in his North Tampa neighborhood and with Tampa Neighborhood Crime Watch. His support, kindness, commitment for change, big heart and friendship will be sorely missed but his sprit will remain with us forever.
David was everywhere in the community trying to make a difference, especially through his "Up With Hope, Down With Dope" anti-drug marches. Major Jane Castor also mentioned that David was going to be recognized for "Outstanding Citizen of the Year" by TPD at the Sykes Law Enforcement lunch. The Mayor also stated "David represented the very best of neighborhood activism. He truly made a difference.” "
David was very involved not only in his neighborhood association of North Tampa, but in city wide activities. He was a past President of the Tampa Neighborhood Watch Association, a founding member of the Hillsborough County Prostitution Task Force, and member of the Southeast Seminole Heights (SESH) antiprostitution Exercise Club (among other actvities.) He attended every anti-drug march held in SESH and assisted in getting the SESH Neighborhood Watch Vehicle Patrol started. His efforts helped reduce prostitution activity in Seminole Heights.
He was a good man and will be greatly missed.
Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2005
MacDonald Funeral Home
10520 N. Florida Avenue
813- 933 - 4950
5:00 PM
David West at the former U-Save on Nebraska for a late night anti-prostitution walk with the SESH Exercise Club. Also in the photo is Betty Shaffer and an unknown TPD officer.
David West will surely be missed. He was such a kind and generous person.
ReplyDeleteHow sad. He seemed such a quiet, humble man. He deserves the Citizen of the Year award. I hope there is someone in his family who can receive it for him.
ReplyDeleteA comment made by one of my neighbors about David
ReplyDelete"I was so shocked and sorry to hear about David. If there's ever any discussion again on renaming Nebraska Ave., here's someone who deserves it as much as anyone else, if not more .... David West Boulevard. how fitting."
Nice article in todays Tampa Tribune about David West.
ReplyDeletehttp://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBDWQEJY6E.html
Mar 31, 2005
Activist's Life Was Defined By Service To Community
By VALERIE KALFRIN
vkalfrin@tampatrib.com
TAMPA - David West was disheartened to learn that East 109th Avenue, where he and his mother settled, wasn't like the quiet Cincinnati suburb of his youth, where he could hitchhike to a friend's house without fear.
So in the mid-1990s, he joined people such as Chloe Coney, of the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa, marching through the heart of drug dealers' territory and chanting, ``Up with hope; down with dope.''
A community activist who became vice president of the Tampa Neighborhood Watch Association, West died Sunday of complications from intestinal cancer, friends and family said. He was 51.
``He was definitely a hero in my eyes,'' Coney said. ``He didn't just talk about things being bad in the community; he would roll up his sleeves and make it a better place.''
From the city's Neighborhood and Community Relations office to the Tampa Police Department, West's death shocked those who knew him. The cancer had not been diagnosed until exploratory surgery Friday at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, said Cheri Wilhelm, his high school sweetheart and friend.
Upon learning he had weeks to live, West joked that the cigarette butts he had swallowed as a teenage rebel had caused his problems, Wilhelm said. Within hours, his heart failed.
``He was just a regular person who wound up in the last 10 years of his life being devoted to other people,'' she said.
Afflicted with a painful bone disorder and disabled from a fall years ago as a steelworker, West was an Army veteran who found purpose in volunteerism. ``He wanted to work. He wanted to have a job, so he made that his job,'' Wilhelm said. ``It gave him meaning.''
West also was vice president of the North Tampa Community Crime Watch and Civic Association, advocating for roughly 2,600 homeowners between Busch Boulevard and Fowler Avenue.
``When new people moved in, he'd go door to door a lot of times and invite them to our meetings,'' said Betty Shaffer, the association's president. ``He just took it to heart.''
West's enthusiasm was evident citywide. He attended street-sign dedications and community holiday parties, usually wearing a T-shirt or pins from one of the groups he supported. Aside from those in his own neighborhood, he organized antidrug marches in east and West Tampa and Sulphur Springs. He also helped police and code enforcement officers pursue quality-of-life complaints.
``He struck you as a good and honest person from the moment you met him,'' Tampa police Maj. Jane Castor said. ``Anything we needed from David, he would be there. He'd cook hamburgers, blow up balloons.''
West's smiling face appeared at so many city functions, Castor said, she used to ask him, ``Where am I going tomorrow, David?'' The Tampa Police Department planned to honor him this year with an Outstanding Citizen of the Year award.
``He was well-loved in a lot of places,'' said Marilyn Durst, Tampa Neighborhood Watch Association President. ``There was no door he wouldn't knock on, which is hard to do when you have no money'' to compensate volunteers, she said.
In his off hours, West enjoyed reading murder mysteries and dining at Skyline Chili in Clearwater, the same restaurant chain he patronized in Cincinnati, Wilhelm said. He lived for when others appreciated his efforts.
``He was very much loved,'' Wilhelm said. ``I don't know many people who do that much for other people and don't want anything in return.''
Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.
This story can be found at: http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBDWQEJY6E.html