David All

David All passed away early on November 9 in Lawrence, Kansas, surrounded by his family after a brief illness.

He had recently celebrated his 83rd birthday and his 58th wedding anniversary. He was widely known for his wit, kindness, and many entertaining stories.

David lived nearly his entire life in Kansas. He was born in McPherson, Kansas, and spent a happy childhood amongst his parents, Bill and Marge, his brother Dennis, and his large extended family. One of his favorite memories was stocking shelves at his grandmother's restaurant, the White Swan, so he could earn a nickel to watch the pictures on Saturday mornings.

In McPherson, he developed his love for team sports, especially baseball. He was a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals and later became a fan of the Kansas City Royals. His childhood hero was Ted Williams. David happened to be in Boston just after Williams passed, which allowed him to attend the public memorial for Williams at Fenway Park. He and his parents and grandparents would make many road trips together to watch baseball games, both to Sportsman Park in St. Louis and Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, and he could recall stats and stories from those trips on request.

David was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from Kansas State University with a degree in Business Administration and from the University of Kansas School of Law with a Juris Doctor. In Lawrence, he met his future wife, Priscilla, on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend. After the meeting, they would spend nearly every day together for the next fifty-eight years. David's life reflected his commitment to family and community.

His greatest joy was being a kind, loving, and supportive father and grandfather. He attended almost every sporting event, school event, competition, and milestone in his children's lives. He could report from memory the play-by-play and stats of his daughter Stacy's basketball games and could sing most of the lyrics from his son Matt's school musicals. He loved to read to his children and grandchildren when they were little and never failed to do all the voices, from Grover to the Grinch and everything in between.

His children and grandchildren always looked forward to Sunday mornings when he would make his famous pancakes. David was a natural leader and active in service to any community he was a part of. This started early for him when he was president of the student council at K-State.

His greatest contributions as a leader were in Augusta, Kansas, where he and Priscilla lived for almost fifty years and raised their children. He served as City Attorney for over 30 years, advising city councils, city managers, mayors, police chiefs, and countless others. He served on the board of directors of the Augusta Medical Complex and was president of the Kansas Association of Hospital Attorneys and the City Attorney Association of Kansas.

He was an active member of the churches his family attended, both through singing in the choir and through teaching an adult Sunday school class with Priscilla, where they explored Christianity through the lenses of popular culture and other world religions.

David supported performing arts of all kinds and passed that passion on to his children. While attending Kansas State, he toured with a group called "Three Hits and a Miss" and continued to express his love of singing through his choirs and small singing groups. He and his family were avid attendees of the Music Theatre of Wichita for over 35 years.

He was also a big sports fan, which occasionally caused him to yell at the television or his voice to ring out in the Augusta High School gym. More than anything, he was a fundamentally kind and decent person who made the lives of everyone around him better. Even when he faced challenges, he always considered himself lucky—lucky to have found Priscilla, lucky to have been able to raise his children and enjoy his grandchildren, and lucky to have lived a rich life full of love and joy.

He was preceded in death by his parents, W.L. "Bill" All and Marjorie Clayton All.

The family he leaves behind who miss him dearly includes his wife Priscilla All (Lawrence), his daughter Stacy (San Francisco), his son Matthew (Lawrence), his daughter-in-law Ashley, and his five beloved grandchildren, Helena, Thomas, Penelope, Silvia, and Georgia.

Memorials can be made to the Alzheimer's Association. A celebration of life will be scheduled in the future.