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David Kerr: Consistency of Character

From Chuck Gargan
July 2005 - Dennisville, NJ

What is it that we memorialize in people? It should be a quality that’s enduing in order to create a legacy. For Dave Kerr I believe that it was: consistency of character. He had genuine humility and a keen sense of manner that could disarm any new contract or potential conflict. He was an inwardly ferocious competitor, while outwardly, he was always under control. He was the guy who handed the ball to the referee…he wasted no time on end zone celebrations. He was all-team…and all-fun. Dave Kerr was what I’d call a true, honest person.

There are so many stories that I could tell about Dave Kerr. It’s so hard to choose. I realize now that Dave was an advocate for the less fortunate. I remember one time when I was sadly engaged in beating up on one of our weaker classmates. Dave stopped the fight, pulled me off and made it clear that this kind of behavior would threaten our friendship if I didn’t,”…wise up.” I did, I knew that Dave was right.

We hugged and laughed but I sensed tension, “I have something that I have to tell you chuck,” he said. “I have a tumor on my brain. The doctor says that they can’t operate, that it’s bad news but I’m not buying it.” I don’t remember being able to respond but I do recall the numbness that squeezed me until my knees buckled. Dave was sick. And he was like a brother to me.

Dave’s Mom (Elizabeth) called me a couple of days later and said, “Chuckie, Dave passed away a little bit ago, it was very peaceful. He was smiling. Even now I feel as though a significant part of my life was stolen from me. But of course, I was always the selfish one. Somehow I think that Dave and I would have made “good men”. Dave would have seen to it. Now, I just hope that I’m a good man in his honor. He proved to me that “only the good die young.”

The following exerpt and pictures are from "2005 Avalon Beach Patrol Yearbook: 1906 to 2005 Protecting Avalon's Beaches For 100 Years."