David Andrew Terrell died in Natchitoches, Louisiana on September 4, 2021. He was proud and independent, a United States Marine, a storyteller and burgeoning salesman, a son, brother and friend more dearly loved than perhaps he even knew. Born May 22, 1996 in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, David became a Terrell the moment he ran across the room to his new father Steve and said, ‘papa’. He was brought home, along with his sister Elizabeth, by Steve and Phyllis to Texas, where his waiting siblings fell in love with his smile, his watchful green eyes, his propensity to take the hand of a stranger, his instant ability to chat with them in two languages – whether or not he fully understood the words he could manipulate so effortlessly – his tenderness for dogs and his appetite for National Geographic for Kids.
David graduated United States Marine Corps recruit training as a Private on August 15, 2020, and it was one of his most valued achievements. David was ever becoming a self-made man, and everyone who knew him was proud of him for his drive and searching spirit. He always had a story to tell, an answer to give, a piece of knowledge he hoped you didn’t already know. Before beginning his training in 2019, he worked offshore, where he found a community of colleagues and friends. At the time of his death, he was doing work he enjoyed with one of the great loves of his life, cars, at Jimmy Granger Ford Lincoln in Natchitoches. David walked into work his last morning and told his boss, “It’s gonna be a great day.”
To his family, for whom that day will remain one of the most difficult of their lives, it is no small joy to know that, for him, it was only a great one. On David’s desk were a Bible, a battered copy of a Ukrainian book and a stack of National Geographics. ‘In my beginning is my end,’ said the poet. The end came too soon for David, but he still carried a legacy: not least that he never stopped seeking, that he was loved.
He is survived by his parents Steve and Phyllis Terrell; by his brothers Landon Terrell and Caedon Terrell; by his sisters Lindsay Terrell, Courtney Valentine and Elizabeth Myers; by his brothers-in-law Seth Valentine and Michael Myers; by his nephew Lincoln Myers and his niece Memphis Valentine.
Services to celebrate the life of David will be held at 10:00 am on Friday, September 10, 2021 at Hill Crest Memorial Chapel. Interment will follow at Roseneath Cemetery in Bossier City. The family will receive friends for visitation beginning at 9:00 am until service time. Pastor James A. McMenis and Bro. Jeff Segner will officiate the services.
Memorial contributions may be made in David's honor to www.showhope.org.
