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In Memory
Our classmate, roommate and dear friend David McLeod died on January 30, 2004, after a sudden illness, in Nashua, New Hampshire. He was stricken with a pulmonary embolism on that Friday morning following some routine surgery the previous Wednesday. He spent his last evening in the hospital with his wife Dana and 13 year-old son Austin, talking and watching television, fully expecting to recover and to get back to his home, his family, his music, his coaching and his work.
When thinking about Dave, we all seem to have a shared vision of him – a person who brought laughter and friendship into our lives.
We both met Dave as freshmen at Amherst. Dave was a lanky freshman from Lexington, Massachusetts, and lived on the fourth floor of South. He was a talented athlete and was the center of our freshman basketball team. He had a knack for getting his teammates into trouble with the coach and will always be remembered as the team prankster. He played varsity basketball his sophomore year. Later, he had knee trouble and went on to coach the intramural basketball team that won the intramural championship senior year, a team of which we both were a part.
Dave majored in political science while at Amherst. While he paid keen attention to his political science courses, Dave was not what you could call a very “studious” person and had many other interests. He loved music and was one of the only classmates we knew who was a fan of traditional jazz. He played trumpet in the Amherst jazz band. We remember well a concert at Buckley Hall where Dave played trumpet. Dave would stand in the back row of the band and play his horn holding it down really low when he was supposed to and had all the moves the big band members of the 40’s had. He liked being part of the jazz tradition and loved Count Basie and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He made several pilgrimages to New Orleans and brought his family into Boston every time the Preservation Hall Jazz Band was in town.
Dave had the habit of watching a lot of television. It was important way for him to unwind. Of course, in the 1970’s, there was no cable, no satellite TV, so Dave showed up at Amherst with a rabbit-eared portable black and white TV that stayed with us through senior year. The reception in Western Massachusetts was awful, and he kept playing with the thing, but we can still picture him very well sitting in one of those ratty chairs in the social dorms watching TV, his long legs stretching out forward.
Dave also loved the poetry of Langston Hughes. y the time he got to Amherst, he already had several Langston Hughes poems memorized. One of his favorites is called “Motto”
“I play it cool
And dig all jive
That’s the reason
I stay alive.
My motto,
As I live and learn,
Is:
Dig and be Dug
In return.”
This poem, in spite of its simplicity, says a lot about Dave. It is a message of tolerance, acceptance and cool: “To Dig and be Dug.”
Dave was not really a party person but each year while we were in college, he thought that it was very important to have an annual “Boom Boom Punch” party. It is not clear where he came across the “Boom Boom” punch recipe (it included a lot of rum, principally), but once a year he took great care to mix a big batch of it and organize a party in the dorm room. During one of these parties, while the music was playing, he suddenly sprang up and started shouting “Boom Boom.” It was really out of character. It’s the only time we can really remember his letting himself go. He seemed to be delighted by it and danced across the floor.
After Amherst, Dave worked at Wang Laboratories as an operations manager where he met Dana Phillips, whom he married. In 1990, Dave got his MBA at Lesley University. Later, at Lotus Development/IBM, he held various positions until he eventually became vice president of Worldwide Operations responsible for desktop software products. Also while at Lotus, Dave founded and led several diversity initiatives, including the Lotus’ Multicultural Network, the Black Caucus and the Diversity Advisory Group. Dave’s work at Lotus in this regard was really an extension of the way he lived from the time we came to know him and before. He was always someone who reached out to all sorts of people and could put them at their ease about difficult subjects. And while he dealt with serious subjects gracefully, he didn’t take himself too seriously. He had a great sense of humor and was always smiling and teasing his friends, but in a good-natured way. He rarely showed anger.
Dave lived life at his own pace, on his own terms. He always seemed less stressed, less hurried and a little less harried then the rest of us. He seemed like a throwback to another era in some ways; Dave was pure “old school.” Often he had the mannerisms and vocabulary of a person who was born a generation before him, which was like a steady compass for people living in a world gone haywire with ambition and conflict—even while he held positions of great responsibility in leading companies in the most advanced new technologies. Somehow he managed to find the right balance—a rare achievement and as great a measure of success as any other.
Dave was very devoted to his family and his community. His love of sports and willingness to invest in his community led him to devote a lot of time in the past few years to coaching. He as a great coach and earned the admiration and respect of many young people and their parents in Nashua.
At the time of his death, Dave was vice president for operations at Fulfillment Plus in Waltham, Massachusetts. His work brought him to New York from time to time, and he always took care to contact both of us in advance of his trips so that we could get together. Dave was very thoughtful in that regard. Where other people would let friendships slide, Dave had the rare ability to make and keep friendships from all stages of his life, and we feel indebted to him for including us in this circle. The last time we saw him was together, over dinner in New York, in December 2003. We talked about a lot of things. Dave said that he was thinking about writing a book, a book about his great aunt, the educator, Mary McLeod Bethune. We encouraged him to do it. Dave was very proud of his connection to her. His work in diversity and personal trait of inclusiveness seemed like extensions of that tradition, and it is a shame indeed he never had the chance to work on the book. Dave was also keenly following the primary elections in his last months and, being a New Hampshire resident, had already been to gatherings involving several of the candidates.
Dave was buried in Lexington, Massachusetts, in a private ceremony, which was followed a few days later by a memorial service at the Lexington United Methodist Church, the church he attended as a child and went back to with his family as an adult. The church was standing room only. Several Amherst alumni of the class of 1981 were there including Jim Kennedy, Clem Tauber, Bob Szulborski, Ike Morinaga and us.
Dave is survived by his wife of 15 years, Dana; their son, Austin; his parents; his sister; his extended family; and countless friends.
We will miss Dave McLeod and the teasing, the jokes and the laughter he brought to our lives that we were able to share. Most of all, we will miss his friendship, but we will have fond memories that will last for years to come.
Scott L. Flood ’81 and Frederick R. Fucci ’81
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David G. McLeod
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David McLeod Obituary
Of Nashua, NH, formerly of Lexington, MA died after a brief illness, January 30, 2004, age 45 at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua. He was the beloved husband of Dana (Phillips) and devoted father of Austin. Mr. McLeod was born of August 1, 1958 in Washington, D.C. son of Gerald and Dorothy McLeod of Lexington, MA. After graduating from Lexington High School, Mr. McLeod attended Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, Amherst College and received his MBA at Lesley University. Mr. McLeod was a long-time employee of WANG Labs., Lotus Development/IBM as Vice President of Worldwide Operations and most recently Vice President of Operations at Fulfillment Plus in Waltham, MA. In addition to his wife, son and parents, Mr. McLeod is also survived by his sister Rebecca Barnett and her husband Myron of Newton, MA, his brother in law David Phillips and wife Susan of Amherst, NH, and 5 nephews and one niece. A Memorial Service will be held at Lexington United Methodist Church, 2600 Mass Ave., Lexington on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 12 Noon. Calling hours, 10-11:30 AM at the church. There will be a private burial in Westview Cemetery, Lexington. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Fidelity Investments, Inc. for the benefit of Austin McLeod to be used as an education fund. Donations should be sent to Austin's grandfather, Gerald L. Mcleod, 71 Spring St., Lexington, MA 02421. Arrangements by the Douglass Funeral Home, LEXINGTON.
Published by Boston Globe on Feb. 1, 2004.
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Deceased January 30, 2004
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Employment Information
Former
Prod/Prog Mgr
Lotus Development Corporation
Sr. Director
Lotus Development Corporation
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Higher Ed
Lesley University
Field of Study:
Management
Degree:
Master of Bus Admin
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