David Myers, 87, of Amery, WI, passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Saturday, September 24th, 2022.

David’s life is celebrated as a Father, Husband, brother and friend. A mentor of bodies and souls on and off the sports field to the end. Beloved of Christ, faithful and sure, David was a kind servant on earth for questioning minds with compassion for all, leaving no one behind. A treasure, a smile, prevailing in life. A joyful survivor through sorrow and strife. A teacher of wisdom – you’ve answered God’s call. He placed you on earth to share you with all.

David was born on May 17th, 1935, to Marion and Charles Kujawa (deceased after 3 weeks old) and later adopted by William Myers in Dodge Center, MN. After graduating from Dodge Center in 1953, he went on to study biology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and played football for the MN Gophers, achieving two Bachelor and two Master degrees.

In 1956, while visiting Two Harbors, MN, with classmate Jerry Hassett, David met Rosemary Sullivan and had their first date at Gooseberry Falls along the North Shore of Lake Superior. David and Rosemary fell in love instantly and were married a year later celebrating a marriage as lifelong partners for over 65 years.

After graduation, David landed his first job as a teacher and coach in Hampton, Iowa. Two years later, in 1959, David and Rosemary moved to Amery, WI, beginning a successful 17+ year career in coaching, teaching, and later as a school psychologist. David served as an Amery City Alderman for 23 years until 2017. David enjoyed numerous outdoor activities with family and friends along with being an avid community volunteer.

David and Rosemary were blessed with two sons and daughters soon after arriving in Amery. David is survived by his loving wife Rosemary, brother Dennis Myers (Stevie), sons Tim Myers and Paul Myers, daughters Carolyn Anderson (Myers) and Kristin Carter (Myers), along with numerous relatives, and preceded in death by his parents Charles Kujawa, Marion and William Myers and Brother Bruce Myers. Grandchildren include Megan Derrick, Mitchell Derrick, Micah Derrick, Amelia Derrick, Maeze Derrick, Logan Baren, Tatum Baren, Aubry Baren, Brysa Derrick (Carolyn), Talmage Kegley, Ethan Kegley, Fred Kegley, Eli Kegley, Lex Kegley, Alice Kegley (Paul), Sebastien Dalin, Brayden Dalin, Isabelle Dalin, Julia Dalin, Hudson Dalin, and Alika Dalin (Kristin).

Visitation will be held at the Williamson-White funeral home at 4:00 – 7:00 pm, on Friday, September 30th, 2022. Services will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Amery, WI, at 1:00 pm, Saturday, October 1st, 2022. An additional visitation will be held at the church one hour prior to the funeral.

A reflection of David though the eyes of Palmer Sondreal – Looking backwards into the future…

Whew…That’s pretty hard to do even for this unrestrained wordsmith. The title came to mind the other day when I was reminiscing about high school athletics away back when. And into that picture came Dave Myers who came bouncing out here from the University of Minnesota and taught a bunch of young high school athletes how to win, both in competition and in life. I speak from experience for the Sondreal boys who were deeply involved and our girls who were frustrated bystanders and spent much of their time listening to their male counterparts discussing the past and future outcomes on the gridiron or basketball court.

Dave’s assisting with the football team jarred my memory about those times and it brought new appreciation for the pleasant era that it recorded in history. Conference championships in football and basketball aside, I cannot forget the clever mind that created a win, win, win mental attitude in the young athletes.

No matter what the odds were, the Sondreal duo were convinced each and every time that the Warriors were going to win. Why? Because Coach Myers had installed a new play or had changed some formation to confound the opponents. Oh yes, he did spend a lot of time giving evidence of his early interest in psychology and his ability to understand the young minds of his charges.

I remember one such football play that was used in an important game. The receiver of the kick-off was to start up the field and the lateral it all the way across the field to another back who was trailing the play. It worked, but no touchdown.

On the basketball court, he took a mediocre team and transformed it into a conference winner. In fact, the team lost only two games by a point each, one being the regional finals at Hudson. How did he do it? He didn’t have any height so he trained 10 runners and scramblers all over the court and it was highly successful. To top off his career on the hard court, he brought the team to the state basketball tourney for the first time in Amery’s history.

So, you can see, when someone mentioned Dave Myers was “helping out,” I suddenly discovered a big lump in my throat and mind starting churning over his (and our) glory days at AHS. Yes, I know that his present niche is a small one, but it was just great to see Dave back working with youth once again (P. Sondreal, Amery Free Press).

Last Update: Sep 26, 2022 12:40 pm CDT