David Alan Pollock, 86

Born: May 13, 1927

Died: July 13, 2013

 

David Alan Pollock was born on May 13, 1927, in Dowagiac. He died on July 13, 2013, in Warren, Mich., of complications brought on by pneumonia.

His parents were attorney Leo Lisle “Jack” Pollock and Mabel Wylie Pollock, both of whom were longtime residents of Dowagiac from the 1930s through the 1970s.

David is survived by: his wife, Mary Ann Barringer Pollock; his son, Sean Pollock; his daughter-in-law, Arlene Pollock; and his granddaughter, Samantha Pollock.

David graduated from high school in 1944 and joined the U.S. Navy at age 17.

His parents had to receive his diploma because at graduation time, he was on an aircraft carrier headed for the invasion of Japan.

When Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed, the war ended and he returned home.

David briefly attended the Art Institute in Chicago, and later obtained a bachelor of arts degree in English from Western Michigan University.

He married Mary Ann in 1953, when they moved to Detroit.

David obtained a teaching certificate and became a high school and middle school teacher in the inner city and Eight-Mile region of Detroit.

He later earned a master’s degree in teaching from Wayne State University.

He taught in the Detroit Public School system a total of 33 years.

During this time, David and Mary Ann raised two sons, Larry and Sean. The former died at age 21.

In the late 1980s, David and Mary Ann retired to Carlsbad, Calif., based on a doctor’s recommendation to help Mary Ann cope with COPD.

The couple served as advocates for the poor and worked to obtain housing and residence for abused and neglected children in the San Diego area.

In 2011, health problems required them to move back to Detroit and into a retirement home where their son could help them.

David had a wry wit and a gentle demeanor and will be missed by all who knew him.

There will be a memorial service at Rosehill Cemetery on Lawrence Road in Volinia Township, near Nicholsville, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14.