David Henry Fruhling

In loving memory of our father, David Henry Fruhling, who passed away suddenly on January 1st, 2024, at the age of 85 in Dallas, Texas. He was the devoted husband of Donnalyn Mae Southern Fruhling and loving father of David, Dana, Dan (Melanie), Dirk (Sheila), Daryl and Denise Fruhling Shaw (Jason) and devoted brother to sister Joanne Fruhling Wandry (Dean). David was born on Friday, September 30th, 1938 in Denver, Colorado to Henry and Mildred Fruhling.
Early in life, our father learned the importance of hard work and he instilled that same work ethic in us. He was always there for us, whether we needed help with our homework, a shoulder to cry on, or advice from a man of intellect and action, who had a seemingly endless supply of knowledge and experience.
David was raised on the high plains of Colorado in the small town of Strasburg. The Fruhlings were devout members of the Lutheran church. He was an avid athlete and scholar. David was the starting pitcher on his high school team and played forward on the basketball team. David was also honored as valedictorian of his high school. After high school, David attended the Colorado School of Mines where he was also a pitcher on the baseball team and an Army ROTC cadet. David earned an advanced degree in Geophysical Engineering in 1961.
Between his sophomore and junior years at college, David met his soul mate, Donna, while working at his father's general store in Strasburg. They married on December 22nd, 1958 in Tipton, Oklahoma and remained so till Donna's passing on December 13th, 2019 almost 61 years later. A central focus of their lives together included David and Donna's joining and embracing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
After college David served as a Captain in the Army Corps of Engineers and was trained as a Paratrooper as well as an Airborne Ranger. After the Army, David began his career in the oil industry as a Geophysicist working for many years for Chevron. David was a traveler. He lived all over the world. In the U.S. he lived in Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, and California and internationally in the countries of Australia, Holland, Argentina and on a humanitarian mission in Thailand for The LDS Church. In addition, David visited many, if not most, of the countries in the world. One of the highlights of visiting these places would be finding the local Temple of The LDS Church.
David loved to fly and logged many miles flying commercially, but he was also a pilot and had his own plane. He loved to ski and passed this passion on to our family. He also taught us the importance of staying physically fit and active. While traveling, and after retirement, David spent many years working on our family's genealogy, and through painstaking effort traced our lineage back nearly 500 years.
Building his life around his marriage to Donna, our father worked tirelessly to ensure that his family had everything they needed. He faced every challenge in life with admirable strength and courage. He was a man of strong faith and he taught us the importance of family, hard work and doing what is right. He was also a giving man, donating his time in the service of his family and others as a long-standing, devoted member of The LDS Church.
David eventually settled back in Texas, retiring in Hill Top, College Station and finally back in Dallas, close to most of his children. The most important thing on this earth to David was his family. So after he retired, David built a retirement home for our family to come and spend time together. He started and maintained our family tradition of getting together every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our traditional turkey dinners were always accompanied by his legendary gravy, and his love of sweets was contagious to us all. As a sports enthusiast, David taught us the love of college and pro football, baseball and basketball, and watching these games during their seasons was an enduring tradition. In keeping with our family home evenings, held on Monday nights as we were raised, our father made weekly Monday night calls to each of the children, almost without exception, after we left home. He would usually end these calls saying "write if you get work." We will forever cherish the time we have been blessed to spend with our father and look forward to our reunion with him in heaven.
David was predeceased by his parents, Henry and Mildred Fruhling, his beloved wife Donna, and his eldest son David Henry Fruhling, II. He is survived by his sister Joanne Fruhling Wandry (Dean), children, Dana, Dan (Melanie), Dirk (Sheila), Daryl and Denise Fruhling Shaw (Jason); his grandchildren Christopher (Sierra), Heather, Jamie, Daniel (Foster), Jennifer Fruhling Myers (Jesse), David, Brenden, Peyton, Emma, Markley and Rawley; his great grandchildren Aiyla, Juniper, Donnalyn and Lucas.
Our father was a true role model who we will always look up to. The funeral service will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dallas 9th Ward, 9509 Midway Road, Dallas, TX 75243 on Saturday, January 20th 2024 at 2:00pm. David will have an interment service at the DFW National Cemetery on Monday, January 22nd 2024 at 1:00pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Father, you are now at peace with the Lord and with your beloved Donna, David, your parents Henry and Mildred, and all of your family in heaven. You will live on forever in our hearts. We love you so much. Rest in peace.