Mr. David Walker Brock

David Walker Brock was born February 28, 2002. David's journey was not easy from the beginning. Born with imperforate anus, and partial sacral aegenisis, his first few years were filled with medical appointments. Diagnosed with cancer in May of 2024, his final year was similarly filled with medical appointments. After a year of searching for healing, David left his physical body on May 9, 2025. His spirit, however, will always be with us in our hearts.
David is survived by his father, Dennis Tate Brock, his mother, Emily Irene Leland Brock, a dog, Scivola, cat, Izzy, and two goats, Nutmeg and Cinnamon. He also leaves behind many aunts, uncles, and cousins who will miss him.
Despite his short time with us, David taught us much. His curiosity about the world around him, and desire to understand how and why everything worked taught us not to rush, but rather take the time to look at things and be curious.
EARLY INTERESTS/HOME SCHOOLING
Early on he was interested in dinosaurs and became quite knowledgeable carrying his book with him and explaining about the different dinosaurs to anyone who was interested. Later it was World War II and aircraft in general. He had a skill for looking at a plane, folding a paper in half, cutting it and folding it to look remarkably like the original plane.
His curiosity had led to creativity. After the paper planes, he moved on to origami, balloon animals, magic tricks, crocheting without a pattern, and string art. He created elaborate pipe configurations (the best gift for him at this time was pipes and connectors), chain reactions that stretched across the back yard, and complex holiday light displays.
Gifted a K'nex set from the neighbors (Rod and Kay Tyler), he was soon creating his own designs and was a K'nexpert finalist for his "giant ladybug".
David attended public school briefly (first grade), but preferred home schooling so he could work on his "projects". Within a week of withdrawing, he had designed a water bottle rocket. He didn't stop there. Over the years, he continued modifying them, adding, among other things, sensors, a camera, parachutes, using air pumps and even creating hydrogen for more pressure.
When a 4h group said David couldn't join their robotics group because he was too young and hadn't done programming, he threw himself into learning and programming excel. A few years later, David joined another 4H group and in a competition, his younger robotics group outperformed the original group.
Shortly after turning seven, David joined the newly formed Youth Storytelling Group at his local library (Zula B. Wylie Library). Under the mentorship of Toni Simmons and Traphene Hickman, he and others honed their skills. David was recognized as a national youth storyteller in 2020 and participated in the 2020 and 2021 Timpanogos National Storytelling festivals.
During COVID, David started assisting with virtual storytelling programs for the Tejas Storytelling Association. He continued until his illness and school required too much time. During his last year he was also a board member for the Tejas Storytelling Association.
COLLEGE STUDENT
At 16 David became a dual credit student at Mountain View College (Now part of Dallas College). Meanwhile he was also working on designing and 3d printing his own robots. When the local library's 3d printer went down, he contacted a professor (Dr. Cho) at Dallas College. Impressed with David's designs Dr. Cho invited him to meet regularly. David met and worked with Dr. Cho throughout the rest of his time at Dallas College. (When he turned 18, he started getting paid for his work.)
Despite the Covid shutdowns starting in 2020, David became a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) ambassador for Dallas College in 2021-22. Working with a professor (Dr. Byungik Kahng,"Ike") from UNTD (University of North Texas at Dallas), David researched outer billiards and wrote a program modeling them. The program greatly reduced the time needed to compute and generate outer billiards' designs. David presented his results at MAA (Math Association of America) conferences in 2022.
The following year, working with Dr. Narayan Thapa (Dean of Mathematics for Dallas College), David wrote another program studying the transfer of heat through a rod. He presented his results at the JMM (Joint Math Meeting) conference in 2023.
On his own, David worked with a friend (Royce Milam) to re-create a pocket IFS (Iterative function system) that could be used on any computer. The result allows users to create beautiful, intricate designs.
As a student, David's skills caught the attention of a computer science teacher he had. Professor Germain introduced David to her professors at UNT (The University of North Texas). This led to David working virtually with a group run by Dr. Tarau at UNT for several years, including helping publish several papers on large language modeling (he was listed as first author on one of them).
In the summer of 2022 he had the opportunity to be part of an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) at UTD (The university of Texas at Dallas) with Dr. Faruck Morcos. Among other things he worked on an app called Molecule Go.
In the summer of 2023 he was part of another REU at SMU (Southern Methodist University) doing various statistical studies.
In May of 2023, David completed his Associate of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Dallas College. That fall he transferred to UTD to work on his Bachelor's degree in Physics.
While David was at UTD, he continued working with Dr. Morcos in the Evolutionary Information Lab. His degree plan required him to take another programming course. His professor, Dr. Fabiano Rodrigues, recognized his skills and invited him to also join his lab (Upper Atmosphere Remote Sensing Lab). In the Rodrigues lab among other things, David worked on an app to view satellites, and assisted others with their projects. (He is listed as co-author on one of them).
BAREFEET, TREECLIMBING, etc.
With his family David frequently explored local nature areas. During these visits, people often commented on his bare feet. Early on he had decided he didn't want to wear shoes. (If required, he would put shoes on briefly) Throughout his life he continued to go barefoot as much as possible.
David was also a skilled tree climber, frequently climbing up just to sit and relax. Having bare feet helped. Sometimes he could even identify a tree type by the feel of the bark.
From an early age until his last week, Wednesdays at 7pm were Nature and Nova time for David. David watched on the local PBS station - channel 13, whenever he could.
SERVICES
A graveside service will be held at Mountain Creek Cemetery on Saturday May 17, 2025, at 10:00 AM. Attendees are invited to bring a flower to decorate his casket. This will be a brief service as it is a green burial. Family and friends are invited to gather afterwards at a nearby restaurant (Outlaw Barbecue). Friends are asked to dress casually and comfortable.
A Celebration of life for David will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff on May 23, 2025, at 2:00 PM. Attendees are encouraged to come and share their memories.
Though David's time among us was fleeting, his impact will resonate for years to come. In our hearts, David will forever be remembered for his curiosity, creativity, and bare feet. He was a shining star in our lives, and a cherished friend. May he soar among the treetops and explore the cosmos.
Donations
In memory of David, you are invited to make donations to any of the following:
*Tejas Storytelling Association
*One in 5000 foundation,
*Your local PBS station
(On TV: Nature and Nova programs.
On the radio: Radio Lab, The Moth Radio hour, and SNAP Judgement were among his favorites),
*The Radical Remission Project,
*Dallas College (Mountain View Campus in particular)
*UTD robotics group,
*David's parents would like to support student research in his memory. One is a tinkerfest and /or tinker space. Other ideas are support for the physics department and the labs David worked in at UTD. Suggestions and ideas are welcome.