David French

David T. French, age 67, beloved son of the late William "Jack" and Barbara French. Beloved father of Suzanne E. Havranek Rob of Hudson, Ohio, Daniel T. French of Cleveland Heights, Ohio and Robert D. French of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Grandfather of Robert and Emily Havranek; and Summer and Lila French. Dear brother of Mick French of Australia and Jeffrey French of England. The family prefers that those who wish make donations to Hospice of the Western Reserve, 300 E. 185th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44119. Private Family Service. FRIENDS MAY CALL AT BROWN-FORWARD, 17022 CHAGRIN BLVD., SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH, THURSDAY OCTOBER 13 FROM 6-8 PM. David Thomas French was born in Broadstairs, England in 1944 to William 'Jack' and Barbara French. He was born in a makeshift bomb shelter in the basement of a house on number 4 Stone Road. He was born during a German air-raid, and while his mother was giving birth to him, less than a mile away, the Germans were dropping bombs on the beach and their planes were advancing toward London. The house where he was born still stands today, and cracks in the walls and ceilings still bear testament to those difficult times. His father, who was an anti-aircraft gunner in the war, risked life, limb and court-martial, to be with his wife as their second son was being born, and he left his detachment for the evening to be there with them. Fortunately, everything turned out well and after the war ended David, his older brother Mick, and their parents lived there in the house on Stone Road for a few years before moving to and settling down in Nuneaton, a small town in Warwickshire, England. They spent many happy years in Nuneaton, making many trips back to the beach at Broadstairs for family vacations during the summer holidays. David grew up with a love for British motorcycles, travel and adventure, and with his best friend, Geoff 'Richie' Richardson at his side he traveled throughout not only England but throughout all of Europe. It was while the two of them were on one of these trips that they decided that they would like to see what adventures America might have to offer, and together they decided that they would save their money for a trip to the states so that they could find out. In 1964, at the age of 20, David took all the money he had to his name and bought a ticket for the Queen Elizabeth, bound for New York City. His best friend Richie stayed behind. David's little brother, Jefferey, born some twenty years after David, remembers the day that the family escorted David down to the wharf to see him off. It was to be the last day that David would call England home. David rode steerage aboard the Queen Elizabeth, the cheapest way, and the only affordable way, for him to travel to the U.S. Nearly a week later he landed in the U.S. and a new adventure, one that would change his life forever, began. It wasn't easy for David in those early days in the U.S. He was penniless and didn't know a soul. But this was what he longed for, this sort of adventure. He worked various odd-jobs to make ends meet for a while. He spent time in Connecticut and New Jersey until, finally, completely broke and too embarrassed to ask his parents for money to return to England, he boarded a greyhound bus bound for Cleveland. Once here he stayed in the YMCA downtown and landed a job at a machine shop doing the accounting. His head for numbers made him a valuable asset to the company and he was given raises and promotions and was relied on heavily by the owners and management. Little did he know at this time but his adventure would soon take a new turn, one that would lead him to a much more settled and stable life. Needing to send a Christmas present home to his mother in England, David wandered in to the Halles department store at Severance center. There he met a beautiful young woman, Joanne, working as seasonal help. Being that it was the height of 'Beetlemania' she was unable to resist the charm of his thick British accent and when he asked her for her phone number she gave it to him happily. Quite a bit of time passed before he contacted her. He had gone back to England to visit his family, but when finally he did call her they began dating and before long they were married. Things were going quite well for them when, once again, war was to impact David's life in a huge way. In the spring of 1966 David received a draft card in the mail and before long he was shipped off to army training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After boot camp David was sent to California for training at Fort Ord. He and his wife, JoAnne lived there together until he was sent to serve his adopted country in Vietnam. Upon his return from Vietnam, David and JoAnne started a family with the birth of their daughter, Suzanne. It was at this time that David decided, with the hopes of offering a better life to his budding family, that he would go to college to become a CPA. David ended up at the University of California at Berkeley where he utilized the G.I. Bill and student loans to pay his way through college. Before long his first son, Daniel was born. When David graduated from college he accepted a job offer in New York City and the family moved there in 1972. A couple of years later his second son and third child, Robert, was born, in Brooklyn, New York in 1974. Shortly after Robert was born David received an offer from Price-Waterhouse for an accounting job in Cleveland, Ohio. The family moved back to Cleveland in 1974 and the kids all attended Shaker schools. Much later in David's life, after all the children had grown, he decided to start his own accounting and auditing firm, and Outsource Solutions Providers was born. With help from friends and contacts he had met throughout his life and through referrals from his very good friend, Joe Johnson, David began what was to be a quite successful auditing business. Through this business David was able to combine his remarkable head for figures with his love for travel and adventure, and soon he was traveling throughout the world offering his auditing services to companies in such places as Germany, England, China, Japan, Brazil and Mexico. The last fifteen years of David's life were quite happy. Traveling the world and running his own successful business gave him a peace of mind and joy that he'd always longed to experience. Traveling was his passion and he had a special love for Cuba. He was a member of the British-American club and a longtime contributor to the Salvation Army and the Vietnam Veterans of America. David was a very kind and warm man and a special friend to people from all over the world. Everyone who knew him, his family especially, will miss him dearly. His ashes will be spread in Broadstairs, England on his favorite beach where he had many fine childhood memories.


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