David James Stankard

David James Stankard, 69, of Huntsville, AL passed away on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, from pancreatic cancer. He was preceded in death by his parents, James Moore Stankard and Jeanne Marie (Feeley) Stankard. He is survived his wife of 23 years, Karen (Saxton) Stankard; his three children, Jeffery Stankard, Melissa Weems (Derrick), and Patrick Stankard (Marie); two sisters, Patricia Stankard and Lori York; and Karen's four children, Adam Crossen (Julie), Cameron Pratt (Eric), Kendra Carter (Matt), and Kelly Crossen. Between them, David and Karen have fourteen grandchildren.
David was born in Cleveland, OH, and moved to Cullman, AL with his parents, beginning in the sixth grade. He graduated from Cullman High school in 1973 where he was a member of the Cullman band, as well as being a National Honor Society member. He attended Auburn University, where he studied electrical engineering before graduating with a marketing degree. While at Auburn, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
It was at Auburn that he met his first wife, Nancy (Trawick) Stankard. David worked in Montgomery, AL his entire career, in the Information Technology field. He worked as a technical hardware specialist for a nationwide software development company, spent time working in IT security, was the CIO at a credit union, and retired while working for the Alabama Medicaid Agency as a DevOps manager for a state-wide Medicaid software project. During this time, he also went back to school earning an MBA from Auburn University, Montgomery.
In 2000 he married Karen, who was a project manager at Auburn Montgomery, and then became a financial analyst on the same Medicaid project. They both became active triathletes, competing in many races across the southeast. David was very proud of completing Ironman Louisville in 2017. He retired in 2021and they moved to Huntsville where Karen was born and raised. He continued his triathlon passion, volunteering at many Rocket City events. He also was involved in running events in Huntsville, as well as volunteering for the Land Trust of North Alabama as a trail builder. Unfortunately, his cancer cut short their retirement dreams.
He will be cremated, and there will be a celebration of life service from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 7, 2024, at Laughlin Service Funeral Home, 2320 Bob Wallace Ave., Huntsville, AL 35805.
In lieu of flowers, David asked that donations be made to the Land Trust of North Alabama (https://landtrustnal.org/), one of the many reasons that made them choose Huntsville as their retirement home.