TEKES CELEBRATE LIFE OF DAVE MYERSCOUGH

Members of TKE Fraternity at Celebration of Dave's Life! Photos include Stan Francus, Johnny Johnson, Bud Hickman, Jack Miller, Dave Freeman (Holding Special Bottled Wine with Dave Myerscough Label), Roger Geyer, Rich Hollis, Mike Anderson, Bob Rizzie, Dale Wyrauch and Jim Burns.

A Toast to our longtime and best friend Dave Myerscough!

What a wonderful life I have had!! I was truly blessed the day David Myerscough came into the Long Beach State library and gave me a note asking for a date THAT NIGHT! I was busy, but he did not give up. I guess you could say that the rest is history.
Who would have ever thought that a young man from Lomita and young woman from Long Beach would have ever had such an exciting life. We could have never even dreamed of the wonderful experiences we would have in 44+ years. It was all because of Dave's drive, competitive nature and natural abilities. I will never forget the day in 1964, that he wrote me that he had been hired by "Zerox." He wasn't quite sure what they did, but there were a lot of applicants for only a few jobs. So, he had to compete for the job.
Because of the 35 years with Xerox, we moved so many times. We lived in some wonderful places and made good friends in each. Also, we traveled all over the world. What a wonderful ride it has been.
Dave was a loyal friend, very giving and generous. Oh, I know that he certainly had his moments. Remember, I lived with him. But, he had such a kind and big heart. He would do acts of kindness and never pat himself on his back. I am learning, even now, of the great impact he had on many of his co-workers and friends.
Although Dave worked terribly long hours, he was a loving, giving, kind husband and father. He coached sports when Tod and Heather were involved.
After he retired from Xerox. We moved to Laguna Beach. He could not just hang around. He mentored, consulted and volunteered at the church. He had to keep his mind active.
As you know, Dave was a fighter. That is why it is so difficult to believe that he is not here. He gave his recovery his all, but it wasn't to be.
There is a huge hole in my heart. I have so many wonderful memories and I am the one who was more than blessed for all the years we had together.
The outpouring of love and support will help heal us and ease our new journey. Life will never be the same.
Thank you, Dave. You were my soul-mate and love of my life.
Pink

DAVID MYERSCOUGH FAMILY

SWEET BABY PAIGE






MY THOUGHTS ON UNCLE DAVE
A man I will never forget, a human being I will always remember.
Dave measured his success simply by how he could help others, and while that is what we all like to measure ourselves against, he is one of the very few individuals who actually lived up to that standard. He lived to help others. No matter the situation or circumstance, you can distill almost everything he did in life to that very notion of helping others; through providing happiness, guidance, assistance or love. And that is what will make our Dave live forever. I was just one of the many who was blessed to have Dave in my life, and as a result I will always remember the things he taught me along the way. To say he had a “presence” is an incredible understatement. Dave was a “force” that I was lucky enough to experience, and because of his enormous impact on my life, I have a feeling that “force” will be present throughout my life, in good times and in bad, because those are the times that Uncle Dave made sure he was part of. Uncle Dave, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and with all I have, for all that you have added to my life, all the help and guidance you have provided, and all the love that you have given. I love you always!

Patrick Myerscough


I have so many great memories of fun times spent with Dave. Golf in Hawaii, wine tasting in Napa, and dinner in New York, Barbeques, watching football, being neighbors….It is while we were neighbors that we really got to know each other. While Dave and Pinkie’s house was being remodeled they rented a condo right next to Heather and Tod’s condos. While they lived there Dave and I would go to the hot tub together almost every night. We had great conversations and Dave taught me a great many things.
One night when we were having a Barbeque, Dave decided to head to the hot tub before dinner. After around 3 hours had passed and Dave had not returned, Heather and Pinkie started to get worried about where he was. They headed over to the hot tub to look for him and discovered him giving investment/business advice to 15 young men at the hot tub. That was Dave doing one of the things he loved most, mentoring. Whether it was guest lectures at the countries most prestigious business schools or at the hot tub on a Saturday afternoon, Dave loved to share the wisdom he had gained with anyone who would listen.
I will miss Dave more than I can say and I only hope that I am able to remember all that he has taught me, and live up to his example of a great man, husband and father.

Brian Richardson

To the HAMMER, we will miss you dearly and you will NEVER be forgotten.
Today, I was reflecting on an adventure I will always remember. Well maybe it was my adventure, it was a common golf outing for Dave. I never really got to know Dave as I did that day when he invited me to golf with him. I learned he was Extremely competitive not only with others but himself. He had such high standards of himself that he just would curse at himself when the shot did not go his way. On the other hand he also was free to give me advice on my game. It did not matter that he just smashed his putter on the putting green when he missed the putt he would offer some insightful input on how I might swing a little different. Of course this was because he was loosing at the time.

It was also on that day he took me to dinner and gave me fatherly advice. The advice was great, however as you know, when Dave was driving NEVER get him talking. Both hands may come off the wheel and he always concentrated more on the discussion than the driving. This was yet another adventure I will always remember. However, it was the love and respect that we will never forget. He always treated me and our family with the most respect even during personal difficult times.

Uncle Dave, I am going to miss you and the times you took us to the beach!
Ronnie Asche

Uncle Dave,

I will forever remember all the goofy grins you shot at people and your all around spunky behavior. I enjoyed all of our lunches together and wish we hade more time to have those "dates" as you called them. You were the one person after my dad who sat and listened to things I had to say and listen to my hopes and dreams and tried to figure out ways to make them come true. You always had positive feedback for me which I appreciate more than you could have imagined. Though house hunting for over a year was a nightmare, I always had a good time with you around. Joking about your God awful driving skills is still occuring! You helped my family so much after daddy died and there is no way I can come close to paying you back for that. You were the thread that kept us together and we all appreciate it so much. I love you Uncle Dave, not a day will go by where I don't think of you.

Melysa Myerscough

Uncle Dave, I’m going to miss all the times the family would come over to the beach house and you cooking your beans! “Dave’s Beans”! Love Dakoda Myerscough Side note from Sissi-Dakoda told me he would like to open a restaurant named Mivie’s. All the menu items would be family recipes and he has already said “Dave’s Beans” will be a menu item! If you ever see a restaurant named Mivie’s, stop in for Dave’s Beans!

Uncle Dave, I remember and miss all the times you took us to Ruby’s to get hamburgers and then brought us back to the beach house. I will miss the times when you would turn on all the beach lights so I could go out on the beach with a lawn chair and read a book at night. I love and miss you!
Tyler Asche

There are so many great memories of my uncle Dave, but the most significant was at my wedding when he danced with me. He whispered in my ear that he wished my dad could be dancing with me but he was honored to be there in his place. I was honored to have him in my dad’s place that day and every day there after. love from Annette
With all of our love,

June said...

My children and I were lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Dave over the past 4 years. When his nephew Mike passed away, Dave really took the kids and I under his wings and took care of us and tried to protect and shelter us through some very difficult times. I asked him one day why he did so much for us, especially me, after all, I was not his true family. His response to me was that I was his family and that he never wanted to hear me say that again and that in the end it's all about the scoreboard in the sky. I was never so touched by another human being as I was at that moment with Dave.

One of the stories that comes to mind with Dave was when we were remodeling our house Dave was going all over town with me because he “didn’t want me to get taken advantage of”. He and I used to bicker like an old married couple because he NEVER agreed on the things I wanted in the house, I always got the "are you sure", which I think he just did to push my button! Because I addressed him as Dave, and we openly argued like a married couple we used to get really funny looks by sales people and I would tell Dave I bet they think I'm your trophy wife. One day while shopping for windows Dave had really just kept giving me a hard time so I wanted to pay him back and embarrass him in front of the sales person. During our bickering I could see the sales lady was really wondering what our relationship was with each other, I was not addressing him as Uncle Dave or even dad, just David. I finally looked at her and I said I can tell by the look on your face you are wondering what our relationship was, to which she replied, "yes, I am" so I told her I was his trophy wife, thinking I would embarrass him. Without missing a beat, he looks over at me and says "if I was going to have a trophy wife, she would be a hell of a lot younger than you" - I was only 39!
I can’t express how much Melysa, Dakoda and I love him, he will always have a piece of our hearts, and there will not be a day that goes by that we won’t miss him, he was a very special man to us.

June, Melysa and Dakoda Myerscough


Ron, Annette, Ronnie and Tyler Asche



I will always miss Dave, we really had a special relationship, he was a brother to me and I always looked up to him and saw him as the head of the family. He was so good to my children & grandchildren and I could never thank him enough for that, which I had told him many times. I also miss his teasing which started when I came into the family.
I miss him so much

Gisela Malloy

My children and I were lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Dave over the past 4 years. When his nephew Mike passed away, Dave really took the kids and I under his wings and took care of us and tried to protect and shelter us through some very difficult times. I asked him one day why he did so much for us, especially me, after all, I was not his true family. His response to me was that I was his family and that he never wanted to hear me say that again and that in the end it's all about the scoreboard in the sky. I was never so touched by another human being as I was at that moment with Dave.

One of the stories that comes to mind with Dave was when we were remodeling our house Dave was going all over town with me because he “didn’t want me to get taken advantage of”. He and I used to bicker like an old married couple because he NEVER agreed on the things I wanted in the house, I always got the "are you sure", which I think he just did to push my button! Because I addressed him as Dave, and we openly argued like a married couple we used to get really funny looks by sales people and I would tell Dave I bet they think I'm your trophy wife. One day while shopping for windows Dave had really just kept giving me a hard time so I wanted to pay him back and embarrass him in front of the sales person. During our bickering I could see the sales lady was really wondering what our relationship was with each other. I finally looked at her and I said I can tell by the look on your face you are wondering what our relationship was, to which she replied, "yes, I am" so I told her I was his trophy wife, thinking I would embarrass him. Without missing a beat, he looks over at me and says "if I was going to have a trophy wife, she would be a hell of a lot younger than you" - I was only 39!

I can’t express how much Melysa, Dakoda and I love him, he will always have a piece of our hearts, and there will not be a day that goes by that we won’t miss him, he was a very special man to us.

June, Melysa and Dakoda Myerscough

Dave was a Class Act
Here are a few old photos of Dave's Family and Friends
Dave with his Mom Florence, Dad Walt, Brothers Don and Waltie and his dog Spot Jr. (actually we are searching for the dogs name may have been lost in history)

FISHING WITH DAVID MYERSCOUGH

We started fishing with Dave over 15 years ago. Each year we would go to Alaska and Mexico. Most of the time he would fly in with just his business suit and our first stop would be Wal-Mart for fishing supplies, waders, wardrobe? and anything else he would need. He would simply abandon all of his stuff and buy new ones the next trip. Dave always caught the biggest fish! He was uncanny- had no clue what he was doing but had the Midas Touch. Most of the time he would drop his reel and rod in the boat and the guides put the rod and reel back together making sure nobody got injured and saving Dave's catch. Stan Francus thinks his secret was to fall into a deep sleep and the fish will come. One year on the Kenai River we were float fishing for Alaskan King Salmon. Dave came in a couple days late..none of us were catching anything (in fact for the whole week only about 14 King's were caught by all the fisherman). Dave drops a line and in 10 minutes had a 65 pounder. Landed two more after that but they were to small.

John Reid and Dennis O'Hern with Stan Francus and Jerry Tagami



Thrill of a lifetime when we all cruised Alaska in style in Gary Baugh's puddle jumper. This was about the 25th of the month and to date 22 small aricraft had fatal crashes in Alaska- It was the headline everyday on this trip. We went anyway and it was great. Buzzed a Mama Bear with her Cub, flew over several Glaciers and up Cook Inlet.

Dave Freeman

FRIENDS OF DAVID MYERSCOUGH IN WORLD

FIRST TRIP TO BVI
Our sailing trips to BVI were always exciting and adventurous. Nothing like being at sea with Dave and Pinkie.
We also have another sailing story when we invited Dave and Pinkie to go with us to Catalina. Had to postpone for one week as Dave had company. In meantime other friends invited us to go and we used our boat. We planned to go for a week and then return to pick up Dave and Pinkie. As we were walking down the street telling our friends we were going to bring some good friends back again my eyes suddenly saw Dave sitting on a bench. What are you doing here? Dave said "You told me you would be here at 4 o'clock, where have you been?" Just goes to show you never know where Dave will be.
Always in our Hearts,

Connie & Bud Hickman

TIDBITS OF DAVE
Back a few years Catholics were not suppose to eat meat on Fridays. Dave and I were at Linda’s home and were invited to stay for dinner. Never one to pass up a free meal, Dave gave a big yes. Hamburgers were the fare for the evening, but Dave, being a good Catholic, proceeded to fix his “burger”. He took a bun, put mayo on it, onion, tomato, and lettuce with no meat! He extolled the taste of his “burger” and downed it with a smile.

Linda’s dad was having trouble with his Xerox copier at work but couldn’t get a repairman to come out and fix it. He was about to get another copier company to replace his machine. I asked him to wait until I could talk to Dave. Dave said he’d look into it. The very next day, in the early morning, up pulls a truck with a brand new, better coping machine with a very apologetic repairman who assured Linda’s dad that he would personally take care of any problems in the future at no cost!

My favorite story about Dave shows his class. Each year when the Long Beach State basketball team came up to Santa Barbara to play the Gauchos, Dave would pick up his brother at Hillside House and meet us at the game after which we would go out for beer and pizza. Walt had Cerebral Palsy and was confined to a wheelchair. Dave’s care of Walt was something to see. When Dave went up the corporate ladder with Xerox, he still remembered his brother Walt’s love of the U.C.S.B. vs Long Beach State game. He’d hop on the Xerox jet and fly out to make the game under the pretense of needing to meet with execs on the west coast!(We were sworn to secrecy and never told this until now!)

If you watch sports at all, you’ll see players of different sports jump in the air and hit their chests together in celebration. Dave and I invented this in the 60’s. Dave was competitive in everything from who could down a beer the fastest to who danced the best. One night we were ragging on his high school when he started to charge me yelling like a crazy man. Well, I decided he wanted to chest fight so I charged him leaping into the air with our chests crashing into each other! We backed up and charged again! Dave would not quit first and neither would I. Finally after a few minutes and much pain, I gave up. From that day on, we repeated this crazy stunt at most of the fraternity functions.

Rich and Linda Hollis

MEMORIES OF DAVE
It is with great fondness that Ardy and I sit here and recollect our
memories of Dave whom we have known for nearly 50 years. I met Dave when we
were freshman pledges to Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity at Long Beach State
College in 1959. An important thing which happened in 1959 was the establishment of the many friendships that have endured and nurtured since our pledge class was
instituted. The Tau Kappa Epsilon logo is "TEKE - The Fraternity for Life." Many of us from the 50's era are living proof of our logo. After college we all went our own ways and many left the area to work and raise families. We may not see each other for many years, but the bond developed during our fraternity days is still there. When we get together it's as if we were never apart.

There were many friendships during that time, but the one which stands out from the rest was "Myerscough and Freeman." Those guys were connected at the hip and Myerscough-Freeman was nearly a hyphenated word. My funniest remembrance of Dave was his "Alphonso Act" with Dave Freeman and others. It's hard to explain to anyone who has not seen it, but if they did the act today they would have been on Comedy Hour or in a loony bin somewhere.

In about 1961 a couple of new Delta-Delta-Delta pledges named Pinkie and Ardy came to Dave's and my attention and resulted in Dave marrying the first and me marrying the latter. What great fun we all had together during our Junior and Senior years double dating and hanging out together. Before the marriages both couples had a little break-up, but I can still remember when Dave and Pinkie got back together again, Dave was walking around singing "Love is better the second time around!" Dave and I were both blessed that we were given the second chance.

Dave was an all around guy. He was a good athlete, a cheerleader a natural leader and our fraternity president for two terms. One thing Dave wasn't was a slave to his studies. Dave like many of us walked the academic tightrope and occasionally fell off, but we all finally made it through. This relates to a funny story Dave told many years after college. When he was President of Xerox the LBSC newspaper, The Daily 49'er ran a story describing Dave's outstanding career and achievements. Dave said that somehow the interviewer had access to Dave's college transcripts and asked him how he achieved suchgreat things with a 2.000001 GPA. Dave's reply was to the effect ".most of the things I learned at LBSC which had an effect on my career were learned as president of my fraternity and being a cheerleader." Go Dave!!!

With all the fun stuff recalled the most important thing Ardy and I remember about Dave was his unbelievable generosity to others. This was first demonstrated in our college days when Dave, working nearly full time and barely financially making it through college himself, helped with his brother who suffered from Cerebral Palsy. I remember being impressed when Dave bought special shoes for his bothers mangled feet. Now I know it was just a sign of wonderful things to come. We all know that was just the start of his kindness and sharing of his hard won fortunes with family members and friends.

We are among many people, college friends, Xerox friends, neighbors and family members who were fortunate to have Dave in their life. Dave is one of the good guys who started with little, achieved much and shared all with those in his life. Dave will be missed, but the world is a better place because of him.

Jim and Ardy Burns




JAPAN & HONG KONG 1984
The four of us went to Tokyo first to visit FUJI Xerox hosted by David & Angela Terry. Had a memorable trip. Dave taught the Geisha's how to "Watusi" followed by dinner and more entertainment. Then to Hong Kong that Dave referred to as "grunging" and we had a ball. Great memories traveling with Dave and Pinkie.

Mary Ann Palermo


Dave was a man of greatness. While not a physically large man, Dave was a 'giant of a man'. We will always remember Dave not only for his enthusiasm and fun loving ways but as a man who genuinely cared for others. He was generous of himself; willing to help many a friend. Many years ago Dave was willing to 'get involved' and made a difference in my life and for that I will always be grateful.

Whether we were sitting in a restaurant in London, traveling to the Cotswolds, spending a few weekends in Bridgehampton or eating some of the fish Dave caught in Alaska in Greenwich or more recently visits to Laguna, we have been fortunate enough to make wonderful, lasting memories with Dave and Pinkie.

Pinkie, you have our love and friendship forever.
love,
Barbara & Sandy Samson

A DAVID STORY…

We met Pinkie and Dave in London when Dave and Chuck were transferred there by their companies in the late 80’s, just before the BIG STOCK MARKET CRASH. We became fast friends and continued that friendship after we returned to the states, getting together in NYC or at each other’s homes.

After Dave and Pinkie moved to Nevada, the Worsdales, Samsons (other friends from London days) and we traveled to the Myerscoughs’ beautiful home on Lake Tahoe for a couple of days of touring this beautiful area. Dave decided to rent a small motorboat to show us the waterfront sights. We took lunch aboard and set off on a beautiful sunshiny day, beaching the boat partway around the lake, where we planned to disembark to a nearby picnic table. 
Chuck, not being familiar with the water’s clarity, took a hold of the rope and jumped into what he thought was ankle deep water. He sank quickly over his head, fully dressed with wallet, shoes, etc. Thank God he still had a hold of the rope and scrambled up it to the top where he gasped for breath.
After lunch we set off once again in the early afternoon to complete our tour of this manmade, very deep and clear as crystal body of water. When we had completed three quarters of our journey, the winds picked up, and we fought the current trying to return to our dock. We literally were perched sideways on top of the waves with the motor completely out of the water, at the mercy of the rolling, turbulent surf.

Poor Dave was in a panic, but no more so than he terrified passengers. When the guys sitting on the front cuddy cabin started tossing life preservers back to the rest of us, we started praying for our lives. 
Poor Dave, in his nervous and anxious state, had to cross his legs and pray we got back to the bathrooms quickly. His bladder was about to burst! Well, by the grace of God and Dave’s perseverance, we returned in one piece but a little the worse for wear!
Dave is a generous and dear friend who would do anything for you. His faith in God and love for his family were evident in all he said and did. He will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him.

With love from Jan & Chuck Dorsey

SWEET DAVE
Dinner at The English House in London
Our trip to Italy among several trips....but particularly -
1) Driving with the Dorsey's, Myerscoughs and the Williams at night completely lost in the Tuscan hills of Italy all of us singing because we were scared to death. David driving (being the only totally sober person that we all were willing to trust with our lives on the winding, DARK roads) that took us back to our bed and breakfast.
2) My personal favorite memory is the single most frightening day of my life. We (the Myerscoughs and the Williams) climbed the renown Cinque Terre passage with Pinkie holding on for dear life to the cliffs and Dave trying to coax her along using all his marketing skills to convince Pinkie that it was safe to move forward. To this very day, it is still a questionable feat, along we all did make it!
3) Sharing an Easter luncheon with the Myerscoughs at a special county Inn.
4) The parent of another Heather.
5) Special memories of Lillehammer and Japan with Dave....Norway being one of our personal lifetime favorites.

We spent quite a period of time talking about Dave and the word that repeatedly came up was "sweet." And I did want to mention that to you because that is always my most primary description of Dave. Not the businessman, the organizer, the financial person, but the lovely, sweet manner he had for those he loved. My memory of how sweetly he worried about your fear of heights when we climbed the Cinco Terra terrifying paths in Italy, of how sweetly he thought of gifts for you that were so personalized and , mostly, how very sweetly he cared for you and his family. So, I did want you to know that people this past week-end bantered back and forth the sweetness of a man who lived a life very well because of that sweetness. It made him into a loving and caring human being which, to me, is the ultimate goal one should have. Dave's sweetness will last well beyond his years on this earth through people's dearest memories of him.

This has been a labor of love to remember these special events shared with a dear friend. He and his family will always be a part of our family. Blessings to all the Myerscoughs. Love and abiding friendship,
Kristin and Doug Williams

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA 1986
My family spent one of the most exciting weeks in our lives with the Myerscoughs at their Thurloe Square Mansion in South Kensington, London! Dave arranged to have us picked up in a Rank Xerox Bentley. Dave and Pinkie gave us their 2nd row seats to Women's Final at Wimbledon. Next day we all went up the Thames to watch the Henley Regatta. They could not do enough for us. Heather and Todd were barely teenagers then and the kids had a ball.

Dave and Barbara Freeman

From Dom

I knew DRM on both sides of the Atlantic. When he was with Rank Xerox, he acquired a reputation for what you might call an unusual turn of phrase (Let's see if that dog's got a wet nose....Will that puppy hunt?). When his tour of duty was over a colleague put together a farewell speech that strung all these phrases together. Watching David during the speech was a treat - pleasure mixed with frustration At last - here was a Brit who spoke his language, but he'd discovered him just as he was leaving….

And one other memory….
David didn't take many holidays (I think he thought of a holiday as taking work somewhere else). But he once went to Kenya over Christmas. When he got back he described how they had stayed at a game lodge built round a waterhole - "and this lion came right up to us and it wasn't a bit scared"

What can you say?

FRIENDS OF DAVID MYERSCOUGH

MEMORIES OF "RALPH" (DAVE)

I first met Dave rushing TKE at Long Beach State in 1961. We immediately became close friends. Our last year in school we lived together and for a very short time worked together in the railroad-switching yard in Los Angeles. Aside from all the fun we had being cheerleaders and partying, one of the best stories I can recall was on Friday morning we were both hung over and he was getting dressed for an on-campus interview. With one eye open I asked him where he was going. His reply was he was going to interview with a company called Xerox. I answered, “What the hell is a Xerox. He said, “I don’t know, but I heard it was a very good up and coming company”. We both laughed, I went back to sleep and he was with them for the next 35 years.

Some of the best times of my life were camping with Dave and Pinkie in the High Sierras. Becky adored “Ralph” and he adored “Gomez”, their nicknames for each other. We would fish all day and play bridge all night. When kids came we all camped together. Pinkie and he became my children’s God Parents and to this day they love both of them so much. As they moved around the country and the world we still staid in close touch sometimes spending family holidays together. Upon moving back to California we again began to see each other very often, playing golf once a week and seeing plays together on a regular basis.

In the last 15 or 16 years we have fished in Alaska and Baja at least once a year. Dave wasn’t the greatest fisherman I have ever met but he certainly was the luckiest. Others will tell of our infamous fishing trips. I can only say they were all true. It is ironic, but today The 24th of July we were planning to leave for a 9-day fishing trip to Alaska.

My family and I will miss him terribly, but I will especially miss his ribbing me about my golf game, my inability to catch the biggest fish, my drinking habits, my memory, or any other myriad of things we love to do together. He was truly one of a kind because the mold was broken when Dave came into this world and when he left this world he did it with spunk and courage. Everyone here today including myself will be someday joyously be reunited in Heaven.

God Bless you David, Dennis O’Hern and Family

JUST PLAIN MYERSCOUGH

Dave grew up in Lomita; we first met when we were both in high school. Dave went to Serra High School, a Catholic boys school, and I went to Narbonne, the local public school. We would see each other at many local hang-outs and Dave would come to the Narbonne Friday Night dances---we called them sock hops in those days. I am sure he was looking to meet girls as he went to a all boys school. He usually wore his Serra letterman’s jacket with its big “S” on the front. He had a flat-top. He was cool. We all danced to Fats Domino’s Blueberry Hill and Dave cut a unique figure with his version of the Lindy Hop. We usually ended up at Gonzales’ in Wilmington for a late nite greasy taco.

There are 6 Freeman boys in my family—but we also had one Myerscough brother. We knew and cared very much for each other’s families—Dave had 2 brothers, Don and Waltie, both preceded him in death. Along with Dave and the Myerscough family, I mourned both of their deaths; and today I mourn for my friend and brother Dave, but celebrate his life.

Dave, like his older brother Don, played football for Serra. Not so long ago, while Dave was in the hospital some of his old Serra schoolmates and Coach Altenberg came to the hospital and presented him with his jersey Number 31. Dave was frail, but that day he was alive with joy. It was plain to see the happiness old memories and old friends brought to him. Dave was proud of his High School class which included: scholars, company presidents, professors, lawyers, professional ball players and business owners. He missed his 50th reunion because of his hospitalization, but he was not forgotten by his classmates: so many sent him cards and messages of love. Dave confirmed an old football story during a very close game, Serra had to kick their way out of trouble. As their center, Dave had to make a good hike to keep them in the game. He hiked the ball and it sailed over the head of the punter and split the cross bars perfectly. He looked up and raised both arms looking for a 3 point field goal!

Friends—old and new were important to Dave, but nothing was more important than family. Dave was proud of Tod’s academic success at Fordham and of his graduate studies in London. He was equally proud of Heather’s achievements at Parsons NY School of Design and her ensuing career. Dave was jubilant at the weddings of both of his children. He welcomed with great joy Heather’s husband Brian and Tod’s bride Marwa.

During a conversation with Dave at Hoag hospital prior to his surgery, Dave and I chatted about two issues. A couple weeks earlier Dave had visited my office. He was very concerned about my clutter and the disarray there. If you’ve seen Dave’s rather messy desk, you can imagine how my office must look. I think he often gave me advice on “straightening up”. I plan on taking it one of these days.

More important, however, was the pride he took in explaining how He and Dennis O’hern had prepared a beautiful nursery for Heather’s then not yet born baby girl Paige. He was excited about the new grand daughter and his “hands on” contribution to her new home. In typical fashion he turned to Pinkie and asked her to send us photos of the nursery. The next day the photos of the beautiful pink nursery arrived—thanks to Pinkie’s technical assistance.

Dave redefined the term good husband- From the time he met her, Pinky was at the center of Dave’s life. When Dave met Pinkie, our outings to the Acapulco Inn and the Bayou suddenly subsided-- Pinkie was his soul-mate, and now he had better things to do. They had a beautiful wedding and most of the wedding party from 1964 is here- it was the last time I wore a tuxedo with tails. What a great day it was.

When Dave began his career with Xerox, boys’ nights out were completely over. He worked exceedingly hard, and would spend most nights up late preparing for the next day. Xerox became a part of his family. Dave’s father was unsure of his son’s future with a company he never heard of, but his doubts were dispelled when he was given a copy of a business magazine with his son’s photo on the front cover.

In spite of his never-ending work at Xerox Dave still found time to visit his family and to spend meaningful time with his severely handicapped brother Waltie.

All of us here know the great and successful career Dave built with Xerox. And we all know that Dave’s partner in this success—as in everything-- was his wife Pinkie.

In the early 80’s a rookie Xerox salesman from the Anaheim office, paid a call on my company. I needed two Xerox machines, but I knew I couldn’t buy them based on the performance of a young kid—I needed a price from Dave Myerscough. I insisted the salesman call Dave and get a special price for Dave Freeman. The poor guy squirmed and left- returning the next day with his sales manager. They still tried to close the deal. I picked up the phone and asked for Xerox Corporate’s number. I told Dave’s secretary it was a personal emergency, Dave picked up the phone and told me he was in a very important staff meeting the President. “Just buy them,” he said and “I will make it right”. The next week a semi-truck pulled up. I couldn’t believe the size of the machines. They were 914’s probably so-named as they had to weigh 914 pounds. I had them installed on opposite sides of my building, to provide stability should we have an earthquake. They were so big and powerful that everytime someone made a copy the lights would dim. Dave gave me the friendly Xerox lease plan- the lease that lasts forever- I think I am still paying for those machines today?

A few years ago, when Xerox was having a rough go of it, I called Dave and asked him how he was doing- He answered that he was in a kind of “Blue Funk”. A Totally Myerscough response. I think a “Blue Funk” is what many of us have been feeling since we lost Dave. Dave was hoping to have a family reunion and big party when he recuperated. While it is not the party any of us hoped for—Pinky has invited us to join her and the family at the house Dave so loved and celebrate the life and the love of a man whom we all admire and miss.

Oh Dave would be upset if I didn’t say that He was a Cheerleader!
In fact I have his sweater.

But he was not just any cheerleader he did it that Myerscough flair and style. He wore a Viking Fur Helmet with Horns. Classic Myerscough!

Dave you forgot your hat…..
Dave Freeman
Here's my memory of Dave:

Ah, yes, the first time I met Dave.... I was living in Colorado and so had not met him while he and Pinkie were dating in college and did not attend their wedding. However, when I was home in Long Beach, Pinkie invited me over to their apartment for dinner and to meet Dave. I was sort of a serious person back then, maybe even a little prudish, (much better now, thanks), and you can imagine my surprise, no, make that shock, when Dave came out of the shower into the living room with only a towel wrapped around his middle. He then turned away from Pinkie and me a did a sort of little dance with the towel, implying he was going to "bare all." I so clearly remember thinking, "What has Pinkie done?!!!!" Well, obviously, she knew a good man when she met Dave and this rather rotund (at that time) Xerox salesman became a wildly successful businessman.

BEST FRIENDS
I really only got to know and love Dave after he and Pinkie retired to California. In spite of his career success, I don't believe Dave measured success materially. I believe he measured it in the joy of his loving wife, Pinkie, son, Tod, daughter, Heather and their spouses and children. He measured it in the huge array of friends he and Pinkie gathered all over the world, and finally in the ability to give of himself, in so many ways, helping many, many friends and others, I'm sure he never met. I'll miss Dave, and we will all miss Dave. But we are so enriched for having known him....what a great guy he was.

Nicky Deeble Kenney

My friendship with him was in Greenwich, where Pinkie was the indescribable Church Secretary (ie: ran the whole place) where I worked, and Dave was the quintessential Trustee. He reorganized the whole way we conducted the business side of church, and patiently tutored all of us on the Pastoral Staff, who knew next to nothing about finance, in the most gracious way imaginable!- and always with that warmth and kindness that was mixed inexorably into his wisdom! We, at Stanwich Church, will never forget him! And oh how he loved to share his beautiful home with his church family. Every welcome party or farewell party seemed to find it's home at Dave and Pinkie's house, with no concern on their part about how many would show up. Dave welcomed friends and strangers alike in that authenticity of his that made everyone feel special.

And one more thing: we on staff there will never forget all the flowers Dave sent to Pinkie! Of course, we were dead with jealousy every time the delivery man came to the church office (yes, even in a church) but mostly awed at his sweet demonstrations of love for our Pinkie. And every time we admired a new sweater(or "outfit") she wore, she would smile and say "Dave picked it out for me".

So in his family life and in his church life, Dave was a most generous and caring man and wonderful man, and it all came packaged with that unforgettable giggle. I will always always thank God for the gift of Dave Myerscough in my life and in the life of Stanwich Church!

Most gratefully, Neely Towe

FRIEND FROM ROCHESTER
I sold the Myerscoughs three houses in Pittsford, one with Rochester zip on 36 Knollwood drive and I do have a few fun stories to share--
When I was showing Knollwood Drive it had been vacant for a long while and David was really trying to get Pinkie to buy this house and Pinkie called us as we were in another room and said Dave the water in the toilet is FROZEN- he quickly retorted" then well heat it up"-chuckle chuckle- Well they did buy the house and restored it to perfection, yet, it was still freezing cold in the winter-(oil burners could not rev up enough heat) and I remember playing bridge there one night that we had to wear coats--and the foyer chandelier was dripping water!!!!!!!! Oh there were so many fun times with them- then building a house with them in Pittsford was another event- Dave had to meet me out there on mornings about 7:00 A.M. and chat about the position of the house on the lot, and I cannot believe that I did not get frostbite on any of the several occasions. He always had to discuss each detail several times- and call me at night to do so- if I wasn't at the freezing lot.

Patti Burak


We are so blessed to have Dave and Pinkie as friends for the last 10 years. Our fondest memories are of our drive home from our season tickets at the Cabaret Series where we would all join in on a healthy critique of the singer, what they were wearing, their presentation and all the accompanying plusses and minuses of a performance. Dave loved listening to all the “American Standards” and if the singer got too “modern” on him, he was not happy. Chuck is especially fond of the times he and Dave got to play golf together wherein Chuck experienced Dave’s love/hate relationship with the game of golf. Chuck would always crack up when Dave let out his inner “longshoreman” language at errant golf shots and bad bounces. We have known Dave as a kind, gentle and caring soul these last 10 years and know that he will be well received into his Maker’s arms. Pinkie, we will always be there for you.

Love, Jane and Chuck Pifer


With a saddened heart but with the joy of having known your wonderful
husband, I would like to add this short but very real feeling about Dave. I
also attached a picture that if appropriate you can include. My sense is
that it was a reminder of Dave's willingness to share with his associates
and friends-in this case with the picture of several of us sharing the joy
of the new house, etc.

Judy and I have known Pinkie and Dave since 1979. Oh, it seems like
yesterday that this man with a natural smile came into our lives as a
business associate, boss and personal friend. Dave and I shared a house
while we were both on interim living in Rochester during the 1980's. I
could write volumes of the many "Dave" stories, but a common theme seems to
emerge across them all. Dave Myerscough was a man who stood up for what he
believed in and supported the people and friends that were in his circle.
He truly cared about people and was willing to sacrifice and defend for his
friends and associates in work and personal needs. I have never known him
to sacrifice honesty, integrity or the "right thing to do" in the many tough
situations that often exist in business and, in fact, life. This can be
said only for a few exceptional men. He was enthusiastic, a joy to be
around, incredibly creative and had a killer smile. Dave was always
inclusive of all people regardless of political position. Dave was a true
success in life with Pinkie, Todd and Heather; his business interests; his
circle of friends and associates; his Lord Jesus; and many that he never met
personally but inspired with his example. What he was will live on. We can
ask no more of this great man whom we will one day see again.

Ernie Riddle

It meant so much to me to reconnect with them both last March. They stayed on after everyone else had left, and we had such fun remembering college experiences and hearing about their time with Xerox. What a dear and successful man he was, and what courage they both showed during his illness. He is at peace now.

Ruth Ann Cullen (Martens)


BEST OF TIMES BRIDGEHAMPTON
Dave you will always be in our hearts! Pinkie we will always be there for you.
All our Love

Jean & Ray

Dave was like a brother to me during my first two years of college. He was so caring and giving at an age when so many young men were too busy with their own egos. Dave was unique in that way, and I believe he carried that quality throughout his too, too short life. Today, the world is a lesser place.

Judith Freeman

MY FRIEND DAVE

I have known Dave since he and Pinkie joined the Laguna Methodist Church in about 1997 where I had been a member for nearly 20 years. Dave was the type who jumped right into to the middle of things and assumed the office highest of the church in his second year of membership. He and I became fast friends as we had something in common. We could each be counted upon to get things done. We worked on the remodeling of the sanctuary, paving the parking lot and a dozen other mundane tasks. Dave was quick to analyze the problem and get to the solution without a lot of wasted motion.
It was no surprise when I heard he volunteered for the presidency of his HOA. Only a hopelessly enthusiastic positive thinker could want that job. You are volunteering to make enemies of half your neighbors and over petty issues. Dave took on the task with great vigor.
Dave invested in a number of deals with me in my real estate business over the years. He always needed to be “in the game” and was not averse to taking risks as are most retried businessmen. In fact he must be considered a failure at being retired. He had to be in on everything. He had this intensity about him. We loved to go to the Angels games together and he would sit there intensely involved in the action on the field. He did not waste time with small talk. You would think he had a thousand dollars on the outcome and maybe he did. He loved to bet on sports. I will never forget the time I went to a game with Dave and Pinkie and a blind date I brought from Match.com. Well she must have used a photo that was 15 years old as I felt like I was taking the mother of the girl in the photo. To add to the embarrassment she had a raspy voice like a cigar smoking truck driver. Boy did Dave ever make me pay for that one. EH was a great teaser and never failed to bring up that girl with questions like”do you still have that paper bag she wore to the game?”. He was especially quick to tease me about this date in front of more successful romantic endeavors such as my wife Carol. He was trying to keep my ego in check I suppose. He only teased people he loved and I will cherish his affection and our friendship forever. He was a true and steady friend and I will miss him for the rest of my days.
God Bless and keep you Dave Myerscough.

Frank Bower

Dave had such a grand presence about him. He always made himself known when he entered a room. I used to love watching my Mom laugh at his jokes. He made her laugh like no on else could. She used to call him "Ralph." He was like an uncle to me. I will never forget him.

It is weird to think that "Pinkie and Dave" won't be the same "Pinkie and Dave" anymore. I'm so used to always saying your names together that it is like they are one big name. All I can think of is that Dave was a wonderful man, but behind every great man is an even greater woman!!

Kelley O'Hern


Dave was always very supportive of all my endeavors. In film school at NYU, he even invested in one of my first short films. When I shot my first feature film, "Hurricane Streets," he visited the set. And years later when another film of mine screened in Newport Beach, he and Pinky showed up for that, too. But in 2004, Dave really came through when he opened the doors of his gorgeous Laguna Beach home to our MTV crew and let us shoot the now-famous scene of Kristen floating on a pink raft in his jacuzzi. Who knew this would be included in the main titles of the now legendary show "Laguna Beach?" Funny thing is that after all these years, no one has ever asked, "Why did the show never go back to that sweet house on the beach?" Or, "Did Kristin really live there?" "Are reality shows really real?" No! But we REALLY try to make them look good! Truth is, we tried to go back and shoot a graduation party for the entire cast their later that season, but the idea of a hundred teens stomping through such a gorgeous home didn't sit as well with Dave and Pinky than single girl floating in the tub.

I am very grateful for all the support Dave offered my over the years. And I'm sure I'm not the only one lucky enough to be on the receiving end of his goodness. His warm spirits will be missed, but never forgotten.

Morgan J. Freeman


Had a great stay at Dave and Pinkie's new home in Greenwich, Conneticutt. Quite a nice place right down the street from Leona Helmsley. (more to come)

Dennis O'Hern



A Bearded! Dave Myerscough! Going incognito with a few of his frat friends- Bill Harter, Stan Francus, Jim Burns, Rich Hollis, Paul Tonkovich, Dennis O'Hern, Dave Freeman and Bud Hickman. It was always special when Dave came back to town and had some free time!

HAPPY TIMES WITH DAVE

Dave and I met at Long Beach State College. We were both survivors of Catholic high schools and we found that we had played football against each other -- so we had an immediate bond. When we both pledged Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) Fraternity the fun was on! With his ready smile and great sense of humor, Dave was always the center of any activity. At parties, Dave was actually as good a dancer as he thought he was! He was famous for his "Alphonso the Great" skits at the annual 49er Day activities.

Dave’s greatest marketing success was winning Pinkie’s heart!

My highlights with Dave in the last 15 years or so were the annual fishing trips to Alaska and Mexico. All of Dave’s fishing buddies were astounded that Dave, who appeared to be a perennial novice at fishing, always seemed to catch the first fish and the largest fish of the trip! Once Dave caught a fish even though the reel fell off the rod! Another time, Dave caught a fish while the fish swam around cutting the fishing line of one of his buddies. Yet another time, Dave hooked a fish while he was apparently sleeping in the boat. Dave was either very lucky or like a crafty poker player, he would lull the rest of us into complacency. When he caught the first, largest, or most fish, he would start to verbally “ride” the rest of us, hoping to throw us off our game--it often worked! Dave just wanted to see how much pressure each of us could handle!
He made every fishing trip fun and memorable.

Dave was one-of-a-kind.
We will miss him and his joyfulness, energy, and sense of humanity.

With love,
Stan & Thelma Francus

XEROX MEMORIES OF DAVE MYERSCOUGH

As I have often said, Dave was the second best marketing person in the world….they’er still looking for the first..!!!!

Shelby Carter






29 Jul 2009 Xerox Corporate Announcement

David Myerscough, former marketing chief, passed away at 68

A memorial service for David Myerscough was held earlier this month at the Mariners Chapel in Irvine, Calif. He was 68 years old when he died.

David was a longtime Xerox executive; his last assignment was senior vice president of Corporate Business Strategy. He assumed that position after leading United States Customer Operations, our domestic sales and marketing organization at that time. David joined Xerox in 1964 as an area sales representative in Anaheim, Calif. He held a number of sales and marketing positions in California before he joined the former Latin American Group in 1976. He continued his rise through the ranks, and was named a corporate officer in 1984 when he was president of the former Business Products Division. David’s global assignments included director of the Marketing and Customer Services Organization for Rank Xerox Limited, as well as president of Americas Operations.

Upon retirement from Xerox, David moved to California.

Oh Yea, I Remember "Sparky" Myerscough:
-I remember the old green Buick Rivera
-I remember he walked on the sides of his shoes
-the green Prince tennis racket
-I remember at a meeting when he introduced a new timing for the field bonuses.....Tri-Semesters
Otto and I just looked at each other like the AFLAC duck in the Yogi Berra commercials
-I remember at staff meetings when the cookie tray would arrive...David would slowly go over and break a cookie in half then proceed to eat the entire tray a half cookie at a time.
-One of my first meetings as a Sales Ops Mgr. David's group met with Fred Henderson's Marketing Group. Towards the end of the meeting David flew into a tirade and walked out, slamming the door. Immediately, Roy Hathorne tried to put things into perspective and said something like: David is sometimes his own worst enemy". "Not while I'm alive he isn't" said Fred Henderson. Boy, those were the days.
-I worked for Dave Myerscough for over five years in three different positions and I'm yet to get a performance review.
-I talked with David a few weeks after he followed Barry Rand as the President of USCO. I asked him how it was going and he told me that "keeping up with Barry's promises is like reading Playboy magazine while your wife turns the pages"
-Dave's career is just like show business. He had a big opening, then he coasted for a while. Then he had a big finish
-I also remember David saying:
Roughly Right
Not on my watch
Shelby and I have a love/hate relationship
The BPD five-year plan is in development
But the finest lesson I learned from David was the "Leather Book". After his brother died suddenly he swore that he would always be prepared and he developed the leather book. A simple binder with tabs for all the important personal pieces of information: mortgage, life insurance, stock and bank accounts, etc. I have the very same book on my desk tonight and it is up to date.

Thanks David from Ed Ryan

David was a true friend and mentor in my career. He was a great example of the culture of Xerox, a man who worked hard, played hard and loved his family, his friends and the customers.

The most unique moment with David was he loved to collect Olympic pins. He spent more time in the hallways in Norway trading pins than he did watching the events. On the bus to one event I hid David's hat which was loaded with pins and I did not tell him for two hours. David was more upset about not locating his trading pins than any business issue that I worked with him on. He left the Olympic games in Norway with at least one suitcase full of pins.

On a serious note, I will miss David's humor and his friendship. He was always there for you and he made work a great learning experience and a lot of fun. His sayings, i.e., 'Roughly Right', will always be the measure of the man. David was a Marketing genius who gave me my biggest opportunity early in my career to be his VP of Marketing. I will always thank him for that. The opportunity to learn from him was a great experience.

I wish Pinkie and his children the best. Regards,
Mike MacDonald

XEROX TRIP TO REMEMBER

Dave was my friend for over 40 years and there are many interesting Xerox “Myerscough” stories I could share with you, but there is one story which I have told many times that is a classic. In fact, in December, when we commuted up to the Xerox luncheon together we discussed the story again and had a great laugh.

In the late 70’s when Dave was National Sales Manager he created a national supply promotion, with the winners awarded a trip to Canada – Banff Springs Hotel, on Lake Louise and an overnight train trip to Vancouver, through the Canadian Rockies. There were about 100 winners and Xerox staff on the trip. You were probably on the trip.

Xerox had chartered the whole train, which had a rock and roll band at one end of the train and a blues band at the other end of the train. When we all boarded the train everybody headed to the libation stations, which were little bar stands located through-out the train. The bar tenders were overwhelmed with the crush of people requesting cocktails and so they just started handing out whole boxes of the liquor to us, which were those little 1 or 2 oz bottles like you get on airplanes, to anybody who asked. Each box had 25 of those little bottles in them.

About an hour out of Banff the train slowed to a crawl, and then came to a dead stop in the middle of this little town. When we inquired about the stop we were advised the bartenders had given out ALL the liquor that was on board the train and we were out of booze.

Dave and one of his staff got off the train, commandeered a local citizen’s pick up truck and drove to the nearest liquor store. Dave proceeded to buy out the store’s total inventory of booze. They brought it back, loaded it on the train, and off we went, partying all the way to Vancouver.

When we got off the train the conductor told me he had been with the railroad for 40 years and that was the first time they had run out of liquor.

Of the 20+ trips Maria and I took on Xerox’s nickel that was the most memorable.

Andy Props


I met Dave in 1964, when I interviewed him for a sales position with Xerox .
During the interview I asked Dave to sell me a Cross Pen. (We all did that in those days.) Dave, not only sold me the pen, but he was so good, I bought 5 more from him.
Needless to say, I hired him. Even then Dave was a aggressive, ego minded competitive know it all guy, and guess what? He backed everything up with results.
His first assignment with Xerox, was a Junior Sales rep, reporting to me. Wow did we have fun. His compensation was a small salary of about $300 per month and 26% of my total commission for the month. He wasn't too happy with that program, since he had to do all the work. During that time, we or I mean Dave, were very successful. He had a knack that didn't allow anyone to say no.

One of many favorite stories of that time, was when my largest account leased a 914 for a specific library application. They wanted us to teach them and spend the day with them and train all the operators. Well, I couldn't do it for two reasons..One I had a tennis game that day, and I wasn't that knowledgeable about the Dewey decimal system. So, I had a chat with Dave, and convinced him he was from Rochester and was the specialist for Libraries. With that in mind, he spent the day at the account teaching the applications. Trust me, he had no clue what he was doing, but he was great.

Over the years, Dave and I remained very close. Our Daughters were born on the same day, same year. Dave and I celebrated our Daughters 21st Birthday in San Francisco.
During Football season, we talked every Sat. and Sunday for 15 years. Who do you like, or what's the line on the games. We talked so much sports, you would think we know what we were talking about.. We didn't

A great friend, and quite a guy. I cannot tell you how much I will miss him.

My Love to the Family. Jack Blumin

PS.
He never forgave me for giving him a letter of warning for allowing the Angel Baseball team to cancel a 813. They said the machine had too many jams. Hard to believe. Over the years, we would often talk about the letter and I would remind him the the letter made him a better person and look what happened to his career.OLYMPIC PINS

Dave had the finest memory of anyone I have ever met. He remembered what was said by everyone in every meeting and there was a lot of meetings. The fun time I remember most is when his Olympic Pins were taken when he went to the bathroom on the bus in Lillihammer, Norway. David had a sulking temper when anyone touched his Olympic pins.
The most fun was to watch him trade pins in Atlanta, GA at the summer Olympics, I am not sure he saw any events.
We loved him and we was terrific to both work with and work for. He will be missed but always remembered.

Irene & Jim Brown

Only one story of Dave:
I was in the Los Angeles Downtown Branch of Xerox. The Branch Manager Jack Burns appointed me to the new Duplicator Specialist position which was basically to help the Sales Force sell the bigger machines particularly the newer Xerox 7000 reduction machine. The lead branch in this idea was of course Oakland led by non other than Dave. Jack said go to Oakland and see what they are doing there to sell so many---so I went to Oakland to see Dave---and sure enough he had come up with all the ideas for prospects to use reduction. Get them to use 2 sided reduced copies to save space, get 4 copies on one sheet by reducing 2 letter sizes on each side etc etc add many different applications etc. Dave was always way out front in marketing. The past year he has come to my office a number of times for investment projects we are both in, one he joined me on and one I joined him on. I will miss him. God bless him!!

George P Economos

David was blessed with a wonderful sense of humor in addition to his terrific family who were always so dear to him. We will miss him and will be forever entertained with our stories and the very best memories of our time together. No one can say "Roughly Right" or "Here comes Sparky" without an instant image of Dave.
When Rich worked for Dave, he would call me at home from Xerox headquarters in Stamford, CT on a Wednesday at 2 in the afternoon and ask to speak to Rich. Well Rich was in Stamford with Dave, wasn't he. Dave would say, Is that what he told you?
He thought it was to funny to get Rich in trouble.

I did love it when Dave and Rich went shopping for Pinkie and I.. The question was were they with a realtor or at the jewelry store!

In Loving memory of a kind and thoughtful man, our dear friend. Blessings
Rich and Cyndee Cutri


1) When I was a Branch Manager in Tampa, Dave & Dwight Ryan asked me to come back to Rochester in 1982 to launch the “10 Series Products” as the Low Volume Program Manager. My 1st week in Xerox Square, I met Dave on elevator @ 6 PM going down all excited and Dave said simply, Hi Bill, Did you sell your house in Tampa? When I said yes,; his response was, Dam and my face dropped…he let me get all the way down and as we were getting off elevator, he said…..”Gotch Ya” and just kept walking. A sense of humor, albeit at my expense.

2) I was presenting a price discount program I was testing as a pilot program called “Match Pricing” in the Board Room on 029. Dave held up a letter from David Kearns saying Joe Wilson would turn over in his grave if he knew I was recommending discounting price at the rep level. When I finished presenting my recommendation to go National, Dave simple said sit down. He then said if it doesn’t work and the average Achieved Price falls below what I put in the plan, I will fire you….”Do you still want to recommend we go National?” With my knees shaking under the table, I said Yes. Dave hesitated for at least 30 seconds and then said in front of everyone, “Right Answer”! Many years later he said he was testing my conviction!

3) When I was the Western Region VP and Dave was on the Q-Matrix Board, I asked him to help me to develop a strategy to do a cost-per-impression for printers. He came around so much, I gave him an office on the 16th floor in Santa Ana…..big mistake as at least 3 times a day he would open my door whether I was in a meeting or on the phone and state “What the #)*! is wrong with our company” “I want you to call Mike MacDonald or if you don’t feel comfortable taking the action, I will and get this BS fixed” “So when are you going to call” After a few months of this, I had to say to Dave, “You know I don’t work for you anymore!” His response, So What’s your point!” “You know I am Roughly Right so just get it done” “When will you close the loop with me?” was the last thing he said as he walked out the door. He gave me more action items as a retired Corporate Officer then my real Boss did.

A leader ahead of his time, a great strategist, loyal, as long as one did not BS and a friend who left too early….I guess the “Sky Boss” needed a strategist to fix heaven.

Love Bill Ernisse

BEST FRIENDSHIP
There are many things which stand out as memories of the 40 years of friendship with David. One was when I was still at Xerox in 1971 working as the launch manager for the new 4000 product. We had very strict allocation of machines, and all the branches were competing for the most sales. Dave was at Oakland at the time and for some reason, we were coming up short a couple of machines. After much frustration on everyone’s part, we found two machines that Dave had “stashed away” in an effort to make certain his branch was the most competitive and came out in the first group for initial sales. We all know Dave’s competiveness and desire to be #1! This was indicative of his success.

In recent years, we were invited for dinner at his beautiful beachfront home in Laguna Beach. Dave was so proud of his home and enjoyed showing us through it and all the new additions he and Pinkie had made. It always seemed, though, that we would always end up on the balcony barbecuing, and more importantly for Dave, he made certain we try to get a glimpse of his next door neighbor, Heather Locklear!

It was a privilege to work with Dave on his financial planning over the years. His priority was to make certain there would be financial security for the Myerscough family and he certainly accomplished that.

Barney and Wendy Whitesell

DAVE & SHERI’s 2005 HURRICANE CRAWL
It started out like any other business trip; 4:30 am Town Car to LAX; bleary-eyed stumble onto AA for a non-stop to Ft. Lauderdale. But in the middle of this trip, Hurricane Katrina came calling.

We nervously took a small airplane tour of the Marina’s in the Florida Keys on Wednesday followed by meetings all day Thursday, August 25th. That evening the start of the outside “hurricane bands” began to pummel the East Coast of Florida. We finished a Client dinner and arranged to meet another Client for drinks in Abacoa, just slightly inland from West Palm Beach.
We were surprised to find six business associates in a street front bar – surrounded by wall to wall people. This was to be our first official Hurricane Crawl. As Californians, we had become desensitized to Earthquakes; frequently describing the magnitude while continuing to sip our Lattes. We now came to see that Floridians had the same attitude toward Hurricanes. The “Crawl” is a large group of people that converge on an entertainment area that hosts multiple restaurant/bars within walking distance of each other. They drink, dance and between Hurricane strength wind blasts move from bar to bar.
Now Dave and I wanted to be cool, so we hid our trepidation and bellied up to the bar at the biggest bar scene we had ever witnessed. I quickly determined that these people were serious about their drinking and the goal of the “crawl” may be to go home that way! We ordered 2 Gin&Tonics and proceeded to hoot & holler with the rest of the crazies, every time the wind marker passed 75 mph. Those of you who know Dave know he’s competitive and this night that was his downfall.
Before finishing our first drink, Dave excused himself to use the Men’s room. The Bartender asked me if we wanted another round for us and our six fellow “crawlers”. I said “Yes, please” and handed him a $20 with instructions to run a tab BUT for the rest of the evening make my Gin & Tonic only Tonic. Although we were within walking distance of our hotel, I was nervous about the Hurricane. Not so much, Dave!
The Hurricane blew, the Crawlers drank and a big time was had by all. Later in the evening, we went out to the Valet and got in our car. Dave staggered into the passenger seat and said this “Sheri (it may have been SSSShhhhheri) I have travelled the world and done business over drinks in a dozen countries, but I have never, ever seen a woman hold her liquor like you do. I’m embarrassed to admit, but I had to stop after the 5th round since I’m in my cups”.
I started laughing hysterically and told him that I hadn’t had but one drink all night. He looked me in the eye, blinked twice and said “then it’s your job to keep the dog’s off the porch” and fell asleep in the car.

L.Sheri Grady-Merkle

David hired both of us in 1968 and I stayed with the company for 37 years and Roger for 3 1/2 years. I first spotted Roger when his sales team used to come into Coco's for their breakfast meetings on Fridays. Jon Giberson gave me a business card and said if I ever wanted to change jobs to give him a call. I found out there was going to be an opening for a receptionist and I wanted to interview. David actually interviewed me when I waited on him for lunch one day. I was hired 3 months later and the rest is history.

Short story: The sales force were low on their numbers and Dave called a meeting and gave them hell. At the end of the meeting he told them to leave early, go home and say hello to your family. When he came out of the meeting he had tears in his eyes. Told me he hated that part of the job. He loved all of them so much. Love to you Pinkie
Roger and Bette Sprague

Dave came to Cal Poly in 1967 and interviewed me. I remember Dave walking through the sales room at the Claudina office in Anaheim, CA in the late 1960's. He knew just what to say to each of us to motivate us for the day. For a college “frat boy,” he was a very effective manager!

Our daughters were the only two babies in the nursery at Martin Luther Hospital in Fullerton and they got lots of attention
Thanks Dave

Jon A. Giberson


I wanted to share a moment that has stayed with me over the years and I remember it like it was yesterday.

As a young recent college grad from back East I decided to move West and look for my first job in Jan. of 1971. A recruiter sent me to interview with Xerox, which I wasn't crazy about because I didn't want to go into sales. I decided to go on the interview just for experience and ended up speaking with Dave when he was the Branch Manager in Oakland.

After about an hour interview with Dave he asked me take a brief test. I was in the demo room taking the test when he came and asked me if I wanted the job. I told him that I hadn't even finished the test yet, but he quickly said "don't worry about the test, you'll pass". Since I really didn't know anything about Xerox or what they did I asked him what was expected of new sales rep.

He quickly pointed to a very large copier with sorting bins on the side at the end of the demo room and in his typical overly-simplified fashion said "see that machine over there, you just have to sell one of those in a month. If you sell it in a week, hell, you can go play golf for 3 weeks. Can you do that"?
I of course said "I could probably sell one of anything if I had a month to do it". He then said, "so do you want the job"? I took the job, left the office with my head spinning since I didn't know what I got myself into and went on to a successful 17 year career with Xerox thanks to Dave..

He had a way of bringing everything down to basics and giving you the confidence to succeed no matter what. I was fortunate to work in his organization for several years and always marveled at his creativity, leadership, and humor.

I have many great memories, but this is the one I usually tell people when they asked what it was like at Xerox.

Jim Uffleman


I was 22 years old (some 40 years ago) and had worked at the Oakland Branch of Xerox for about 6 months when we were told a new Branch Manager, the first official branch manager Xerox Oakland was to have, had been assigned. I had been pretty successful in my first 6 months with Xerox but on the month that the new Branch Manager, Mr. David Myerscough, had arrived I was not having a good month. One of the first things I remember Dave doing was putting up in the sales room his “Help Me, Hurt Me” board. If you were on the “help me” side of the board you were helping Dave and the branch achieve its goals and would be invited to join Dave and the other “winners” at the Hillcastle Bar and Grill next to the Oakland Branch. This was considered quite an honor. If you were on the “hurt me” list, you simply knew you were not helping the situation.

My first remembrance of meeting Dave was outside his office in the hallway. I remember him looking at me and then up at his famous board and saying “ I was told that you were good and you’re on the hurt me side of the board.” Needless to say, I was beside myself !
Shortly thereafter, I moved to the better side of that miserable board and never moved to the “hurt me” side again. The other entertaining event I remember out of the Oakland Branch was when Dave and The Pink decided to move to Walnut Creek which, just happened to be my sales territorial assignment. A weekend would hardly pass when Dave would not come into the office on Monday and hand me someone’s business card where he had noticed that they "did not have a Xerox machine." It could be his cleaners, his electricians or his plumbers business or home! I found myself canvassing every known location in and around their new home. It wasn’t so much the humiliation of it all, it was more that none of us wanted to disappoint Dave. He had become our hero and that never changed over the next 40 years.

Later in life after Dave and Pinkie had retired, they wanted to move to California and by this time, after 23 years with Xerox, I had gotten into residential real estate. Dave called me to find him a house near the ocean. I sent him all the listings currently on the market and we made our first adventure into looking for the perfect house. Let me say at this point, and this fact never changed, DAVE LOVED TO LOOK AT HOUSES. With some clients you may see 8 or 10 houses that both you and they have been interested in, but with Dave you saw the entire MLS (multiple listing service). Sometimes over the years we would see 14 houses in a given day and other days simply 8. Well, one of the first houses I showed them was in a wonderful private Laguna community called Lagunita. The home was very nice and on the beach, but the flaw to this particular oceanfront home was that a part of it overlooked the condo development next door and this bothered all of us. I just mentioned to Dave that there was a home, rather grand in scale, just up the street and we could walk to it.(He later claimed with great glee that I “up sold” him). Dave, The Pink and Heather and me entered this amazing home and all of us began to smile at its grandeur. From that point forward we called it the “over the top home.” Both Dave and Pinkie and Heather just loved this home. We put in our offer with the seller and after much negotiation (including me working with the U S Coast Guard to bring up the buoy that Dave owned in the ocean -- later sunk) we were all set to close the deal. To everyone’s shock at the last minute the seller had decided he was not pleased with his realtor and decided to hold out paying the commissions, not just to him but to me as well. I called Dave to say, “don’t worry about my commission, get the house and I’ll work out the details on the commission later, don’t risk loosing the house Dave, it’s a good deal and you’ll do very well on this house. I would rather know you own this beautiful house even if I get nothing for commission.” Dave said little and we hung up the phone.

Shortly thereafter assuming that we were "closing" the next day, we all got a call from the panicked escrow officer who said, “Mr. Myerscough has said that he will not buy the house or close on the house unless his realtor is paid his full commission.” The escrow officer was in shock, she said, “I have been doing this for 20 years and this has never happened before and a buyer has never said that before.” I immediately called Dave and said I appreciated his thoughtfulness but “please don’t loose the house because of some commission.” He simply said, I’m not buying the house until you are paid. Needless to say, the house closed and we were all paid immediately! Can you even imagine having that level of loyalty and integrity and lack of selfishness? Well, THAT WAS DAVE.

Dave and I looked at hundreds and what seemed like thousands of houses over the years together and I can’t remember not laughing or smiling or telling old or new stories as we traveled together in the car. He always said he’d drive because he said,“you have the worst sense of direction, we’ll get lost if you drive.” Dave and I just developed a stronger and more wonderful friendship over the years and that allowed us to say anything on our minds to each other, because we always knew the heart was in the right place. One of the things they say makes for a good friendship is respect and humor and we had plenty of that to go around. We got to know each other’s quirks and hot buttons and would so enjoy playing with them. I used to love to say things to Dave like: “should I buy dinner again, although I think it is the third time in a row (it really wasn’t),” or “The Pink and I have decided that we are done looking at houses” or “why don’t I drive for a change, your driving is starting to scare me,” or “you’re not going to put those plaques of yours back up on the wall after the remodel are you,” or our favorite, “nice desk Dave, of course you can’t see it.” He would just roll his eyes or laugh. You see, when you respect someone as much as we ALL loved and respected Dave there was just no way you couldn’t smile.

There were lots of wonderful characteristics in Dave and more stories that just keep rushing back but one thing was for sure, Dave was the kindest man I have ever met, he was the smartest and wisest man I have ever met, he was the sweetest man I had ever met, he was the loyalist man whom I ever met and he was by far the strongest human being I had ever met. Dave was always there for his friends and family and somehow you just knew you had to do your best to please and never disappoint him. Dave changed many lives and mine was but one.

With all of Dave’s strengths there was one thing of which he was the most proud and that was his family. Dave just loved “his Pink”, Heather, Tod, Brian and Marwa and his new granddaughter Paige with all his heart. Over 40 years I never remember him not getting a smile on his face when he talked about them. For with all of Dave’s amazing business accomplishments,it was his family for which he was the proudest.

I will miss you Dave more than you can imagine but I also know that you are in Heaven and watching and caring and helping to guide our every move. Thank you for all the wonderful times we shared over so many, many years and for allowing me to be part of your amazing family whom I have grown to love so very much.

Bob Boyd

David touched many people’s lives in so many ways and I am no exception to that. My first introduction to David was when I was given the honor to join the National Account Manager team for the Kinko’s account. My job was to manage the color strategy. I was somewhat intimidated knowing that David Myerscough was the focused Executive on the account. During my 7 years as being a NAM on the Kinko’s account David not only became a mentor professionally but I am honored to say he was my friend. He was tough when he needed to be but had a tender side that appreciated. He always, and I mean always thought outside the box. There was no one better than David at Marketing, developing a compensation plan that motivated people, knowing the right way to structure a pricing plan to get the business and never would except no.
I have so many stories and memories in my heart that will always be remembered. One liners that David was famous for, the fast sentences that I became to understand perfectly and most of all the true amazing character that he possessed.
I will miss him very much.

Wendy Meuser

I was a ASR (sales trainee) under Dave in the old Xerox Anaheim Branch. His first Sales Manager position. Dave's pep talks were full of words the meaning of which only Dave knew....and most certainly would have made Mr. Webster roll his eyes. One of my favorites of Dave was "STABABILITY". Some version of stable. Dave was a friend, teacher, motivator, and mentor. Although I didn't see him very often after he left the "Western Region" our meetings were always warm and enjoyable.

One of my most memorable accomplishments was in 1967 working for Dave in Anaheim during the "ONE MORE 24 CONTEST". He challanged me to beat two other Reps on Dennis Gafney's team; Jim Pond and Lou Delcastillo. He said if I sold 10 2400's in the 2 month contest he'd give me a $150/month raise in January 1978 (my salary in 67 was $400/mo.) I said, "How about if I sell more than 10?". He said he'd give me an extra $50/mo. for every one over 10. Well, I sold 14 and Dave boss didn't let him give me more than a $200.00 month raise. Thereafter, every time I spoke with Dave I would say something to the effect of; "Well Dave, based on the number of years since you made your promise, and at a modest interest rate of 6 or 7%, you now owe me $75,263.75. " (Actually he's now in the hole over $175,000.) I'll always hold that IOU proudly.

Dave Myerscough.....a truly good person and friend.

Terry Kelman

AN ODE TO DAVE by CHUCK OTTO

On July the first of sixty-four
Dave walked through Xerox’s door
Fresh out of college, wet behind the ears
Who would have thought he rise through the years

At Long Beach State he majored in beer
His claim to fame was leading a cheer
Described as a hell-raiser by his TKE brothers
Academic prowess he left to all of the others

It was there her met Pinkie, oh what a find
What did she see in him—was she out of her mind
A diamond in the rough she must have surmised
For as it turned out, we all were surprised

As a rookie at Xerox, Dave showed a few flaws
He stuttered and stammered giving management pause
Jack Blumin, his boss, tried firing him twice
But Dave perservered and Jack rolled the dice

Hard work and determination were his keys to success
Salesman of the month and the year—he was the best
Promoted to manager he taught his troops well
If they failed to perform, Dave gave them hell

Yes, a temper he had and when he let loose
You’d get out of his way before he kicked your caboose
He’d shout and swear and get red in the face
And mix the King’s English all over the place

My favorite one-liner when he once blew a gasket
Was “this place is going to shit in a hell basket”
Or when arguing “I’m wougly wight” he would boom
And we thought Elmer Fudd had entered the room

Up to the Bay Area he would ascend
And once again this was not a dead end
Oakland and San Francisco they rose thru the ranks
With Dave at the helm—they owe him their thanks

Then on to the Region where Dave led the charge
To #1 in the U.S.---that was quite large
Aggressive marketing and programs they were the key
He created and sold them with great energy

Dave was competitive in all that he did
He hated to lose and that was not hid
Whether throwing a racquet or flinging a putter
He’d curse and stomp then walk away with a mutter

Nevertheless off to Rochester the family did go
And once again Dave put on quite a show
He formed a Division, BPD was its name
The concept was sound, the performance was lame

But in spite of its numbers, Dave moved ahead
And off to Connecticut he was led
To lead Latin America was his next big position
Where he inspired those countries with his determined disposition

The next notch in his belt was to the England of Jolly Old
Where Dave raised the bar with marketing bold
Rank Xerox had never seen such a whirling dervish
And if anyone got in his way, he was ready to skirmish

Then back to the States to lead the U.S.
And finally to headquarters as chief strategist
Success was his hallmark each step of the way
And we remember his legacy day after day

David Ralph Myerscough was a mentor and friend
to hundreds of admirers right to the end
And those memorable moments we each have of Dave
Will live on in the future as treasures we save