Obituary: Schleigh, David Leo
Age 65
(Age 65)
December 1, 1946 - February 7, 2012
Peacefully passed away February 7, 2012 after a long illness, with family at his side and the music he loved playing in the background.
He had a strong desire to live, and fought hard for many years before his body finally gave up the fight for good.
He will be forever loved and missed by his family and loved ones, even as we celebrate his new life, free of pain and suffering.
David was born in Portland, OR., December 1, 1946 to Leo and Beverly (Mastrude) Schleigh.
He grew up in Portland, attending David Douglas High School, and at the age of only 17 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He served from 1963-1966, stationed in San Diego, CA.
In 1964, he married Gail Lynn Arnold, the mother of his two oldest children.
1967 he moved to Spokane, WA., where he attended Eastern Washington University and studied accounting and finance.
In 1967 he married Ronaele Irene Witt, with whom he had three more children.
David was a philosopher and a character, with a distaste for the mundane, an appetite for experiencing new places and people, and a dry sense of humor that confounded some and entertained many.
He spent most of his life living in Portland and Spokane, and he was an accountant by trade, but his sense of adventure and wanderlust always drew him back to driving cab.
For a good part of the 1970s he worked for Broadway Cab, and taxied the famous and infamous around the streets of Portland and its surrounding communities.
He spent the later years of his life in Spokane, and lived the last seven years in the Spokane Veteran’s Home and Regency at Northpointe Care Center.
On October 28, 2011, he married Margaret Wiggley (Furness).
Dave’s passion for life, wit, intelligence and love of literature, music and art lives on in those he leaves behind: wife, Margaret; sons, David (Laura) and Michael (Heather); daughters, Korina (Craig), Anna (Ty) and Mary (Blue); stepchildren, Michael, Michelle and Amanda; 12 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and many other loved ones, including “adopted” grandchildren, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, caretakers and life-long friends.
He is also survived by his sister, Julie (Chris), and step-brother, Robert Thomas.
He was preceded in death by his mother Beverly, father Leo and step-father Robiere Thomas.
A memorial service will be held Monday, February 27 at 11:30 a.m., at SPOKANE CREMATION AND FUNERAL SERVICE, 2832 N. Ruby, Spokane .
Interment will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Washington State Veteran’s Cemetery in Medical Lake, WA.