J. David Wimberly

J. David Wimberly passed away on Sunday, July 20th, 2025. He was 91 years old and was surrounded by his immediate family in Wellesley, MA.
Dave was born in Los Angeles on March 21st, 1934. HIs family moved to Dallas, Texas when he was 2 years old. He spent his childhood and formative years in the Dallas area. His father was an entrepreneur having interests in the insurance industry as well as a small wholesale jewelry business. They lived both in a Dallas suburb as well as on a small family farm located outside of Dallas. His mother died when he was 8 years old. Dave applied himself to his schoolwork, had many friends, and was an assistant to his father's businesses.
After completing High School, he attended Southern Methodist University where he majored in Chemistry. He enjoyed the sciences, and at this time was preparing himself for a career in Petroleum Engineering. He was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. After completing his BS at SMU, he attended Oklahoma State University with the intention of earning his MS in Petroleum engineering. However, after contact with a number of friends and acquaintances, he discovered that he was quite interested in business and so applied to Harvard Business School. Although at the time he did not understand the di culty of getting in to HBS, he was accepted and so finished a BS at Oklahoma so that he could attend HBS in the fall of 1956. He made several lifelong friends at HBS and was able to enjoy weekly Boston Bruins hockey games as well as weekends at the Cape while studying in Cambridge.
Dave accepted a job at Standard Oil and was involved in their research and planning division in New York City. After only a couple of months of employment, his father passed away unexpectedly in the summer of 1958. Dave was granted a month o from his work in order to take care of his father's a airs. One of the larger tasks was to go on the road and sell the remaining jewelry pieces to various clients around the southwest.
In 1959 he met Virginia Catching at a party, they dated and decided to get married in 1960. They moved to Baton Rouge, LA and were happily surprised at how many friends they made and how much they enjoyed that period of their life. Their first son, John, was born in February of 1962.
At this point Dave wanted to get in the investment business and so took a job as an analyst at a small firm in Houston. Here, their daughter, Beth was born and Dave enjoyed taking his young kids to a nearby zoo.
In 1965 Dave and Ginny decided to return to New Your City so that Dave might have more opportunities in the investment world. He had a job with DLJ in New York. Their third child, Bruce, was born while Dave and Ginny lived in New Jersey. Dave felt like he really thrived at this point in his life, rising to the demands of his work and then enjoying his family life in the evenings and weekends.
In 1976, Dave took a job as team manager and portfolio advisor for Putnam in Boston, MA. In 1984 he decided to start his own investment firm and along with several trusted colleagues and associates, started Frontier Capital and Management.
Dave was a lifelong learner and enjoyed history, in particular both WW1 and WW2. He traveled extensively and was always curious to learn about culture, geography, history, and art. His travels started at an early age with his father and sister: Acapulco in 1947, Venezuela in 1949, Alaska in 1950, Buenos Aires in 1953, and Hawaii in 1954. He was a master fly fisherman and traveled the world with friends in the pursuit of salmonids.
He was generous with his time, energy, and financial wisdom. Dave made substantial advisory contributions to: Wellesley Hills Congregational church; The Wild Salmon Center; The National Wildlife Federation; Randolph-Macon Women's College; Brigham and Women's Hospital; Quebec-Labrador foundation; the Longy School of Music; Harvard Neuro Discovery Center; The Anglers Club of New York; and the Huntington Theater Co. in Boston.
Dave was predeceased by his wife, Ginny Wimberly, in 2004 and his sister, Virginia Gunther, in 2016. He is survived by his 3 children Bruce, Beth, and John and 6 grandchildren. A memorial service with be held at the Wellesley Hills Congregational church at 2pm on Saturday, August 16th.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Memory Disorders Division, Mass General Hospital at: https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate?MemoryDisordersFund