David Philip Liszt

April 29, 1941 – July 25, 2011

David Liszt died on Monday, July 25, 2011, at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas. He had been living in Dallas, Texas, with his devoted wife, Karen, and their two Australian Shepherds. He was 70 years old. His family misses him immensely and appreciates the love he bestowed on them during his lifetime.

David was born on April 29, 1941, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Sam and Clara Liszt. In 1949, he moved to Key West, FL., with his parents and his brother, Ronald. At Key West High School, he played varsity football and graduated in 1958, later attending the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

He was preceded in death by his father, Samuel Nathan Liszt.

David is survived by his wife of 25 years, Karen Kunkler Liszt; a daughter, Lauren, of Austin, TX; three sons—Eric, his wife Amy and their children (2 of David’s 3 grandchildren) Ava and Casey, of Flemington, NJ; Craig, wife Kelly and daughter, Jessica, (David’s youngest grandchild) of Miami, FL, and Spenser of Dallas, TX; his mother, Clara Rosato Liszt of Key West, FL.; a brother, Ronald Liszt, wife Iris and their children (David’s nephews)—Joshua (wife Caryn) of Boca Raton, FL and Zachary (wife Jessica) of Tampa, FL.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins and many friends.

Early in his career, David sold Grolier encyclopedias door to door, then was promoted to the Collections Department there. After moving to several cities around the country with the company, he was offered a position with the Elkins Institute in Dallas, a vocational school for which he served as president from 1974 through 1985. At Elkins, he was charged with improving the school’s profitability through its photography, AutoCAD, radio broadcasting and electronics courses. He, along with several business partners later formed Arrow to Discovery, a company devoted to helping businesses build better teams and develop stronger internal relationships.

David loved spending time with his family and enjoyed reading spy novels, fishing, photography, traveling, watching movies (especially histories and westerns) and growing roses. He planted roses at every home he lived in over the past 40 years. To David, roses meant he was home. Most recently his favorite hangout was the Carrollton Senior Center. He enjoyed the surroundings and being with everyone there, made frequent trips to the attached library and had a great time playing pool. With a little help from his friends there, he worked out a way to handle the cue from his wheelchair and played a mean game!

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in David’s memory to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation (www.christopherreeve.org) or the Paralyzed Veterans of America (www.pva.org).