Born on April 12, 1969 to Alvin & Mary Rhoads, David was the 3rd youngest of 8 children. He was born and raised in the village of Hamburg, NY. In his younger years he was active in sports and enjoyed playing floor hockey, street hockey, softball and volleyball. David and his friends even made up a sport known as “Running Grime.” He was always a conscientious worker, starting with a paper route as a young boy and working part time jobs while he attended school and college.
David’s education from elementary through college was from Catholic schools. He first graduated from SS. Peter & Paul School and then attended St. Francis High School. David completed his bachelor’s degree in Management from Canisius College in 1992, where he was a member of the fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, David became the operations manager for Eaton Brothers, a supplier of home and garden products.
Later, in 1999, David joined the Catholic Health System as project manager on the team charged with merging the technology, people and processes of the new health system composed of 7 hospitals. Over his 20 year tenure at CHS, David was recognized and promoted twice for his significant contributions. His first role at CHS was focused on the merger of the health system technology. David was then instrumental in organizing the work of standardization and upgrading the IT systems. In 2005, David moved from project management to overseeing all end user computing services. In 2013, David became responsible for directing the critical infrastructure of CHS including the enterprise networks, storage and data centers.
Consistent with David’s generous life and giving nature, he was one of the key founding organizers of the first Ed Tech Day in 2003. Since that initial work in 2003, David has continued to play an active leadership role at the Education Technology Foundation. His work for the Foundation included board leadership, fundraising, as well as directly supporting the installation of instructional technology at numerous schools and other community organizations.
David was active in his community and was beloved by his extended network of family and friends. He was a great father to his daughter Emily and a loving husband to his wife Kadie. He had a zest for life, loved, and was loved by all his nieces, nephews & god children. He was affectionately known as the ”fun uncle”!! David loved retelling childhood stories and bringing laughter to others. He could use that gift to brighten someone else's difficult day. David loved professional sports and was a true enthusiast for the Buffalo Bills and Sabres. He was also an avid outdoorsman. He could frequently be found fishing for steelhead in the creek, stoking a great campfire, snowmobiling with friends and vacationing to Black Lake and the Adirondacks.
In 2019, shortly after relocating to Jacksonville Florida for a technology management position, David was diagnosed and quickly succumbed to colon cancer on November 7, 2019. David is gone too soon, but he will be remembered forever in our hearts and lives. We will always remember David with a twinkle in his eyes and a heart of gold.