David Leland Hollingsworth

David L. Hollingsworth, 76, of Punta Gorda, FL passed away April 29, 2010. He was born November 8, 1933 in Westchester, PA to Oscar and Alice Hollingsworth and moved to this area two years ago from Laurel Fork, VA. He resided in Los Angeles, CA for thirty years, where he met his wife Ellen in 1980. They enjoyed traveling and living across the United States and enjoyed a home in St Croix in the Virgin Islands for many years. He and Ellen also enjoyed traveling overseas and had recently returned from a trip to Europe. Dave served in the US Navy and before retiring, had worked as a Real Estate Investor.

Dave was a child of the '30s, growing up with a strong work ethic. He worked in the fruit and produce business for his father as a child. His aptitude for business and mathematics was honed there, leading his father to put him in charge of running the family road stands at an early age. He took work wherever he could find it, anything from setting pins in the bowling alley to cleaning out mushroom houses, to raise enough money to buy his first car, another great love of his life.

After the death of his beloved mother and grandmother, Dave left home and wandered from job to job. He was underage and so when the employers pressed too hard to see his selective service card, he moved on to the next job until finally joining up with the carnival. He traveled south from Penn. with the carnival and wound up in Galax, VA where his mother was born. The local high school football coach talked him into staying in town, going back to school and playing football. Even here, he preferred to be on his own. He told great stories of staying at Mrs. Lemons boarding house and working at Hinckley's Auto to pay his way. After leaving the Navy, Dave settled in California. This is where he found his life's work - first buying investment real estate and later, his "dream job" of working for Adia Interim, a temporary help agency, as vice president of operations for North and South America. This was the most intellectually challenging and fulfilling experience of his life. His eyes would shine every time he regaled us with stories of this time in his life. Dave unofficially retired at an early age to buy and run a resort in northern California. When reality caught up with the dream, he sold it and moved back to Los Angeles where he continued to buy and sell rental property. This was the path to financial freedom for him. His greatest fear was not having money in his pocket and having no home but a shopping cart. Much later, when Dave "officially" retired, he took great pleasure in puttering around the homes he had acquired. He always remembered not having a permanent home as a child, so owning several homes as an adult cured the wanderlust in him and at the same time gave him a sense of belonging.

Dave loved the water, especially the ocean, and always felt most at home when he was within sound of the waves or a babbling brook, it didn't matter where. His mind was always going and never let him rest. He was always scheming, planning and figuring about something and the water had a soothing effect on him. He loved his flowers, especially the frangi pani he always called them plumeria because he first discovered them in Hawaii and that's what they are called there, Poor Man's Orchid and peonies that surrounded his homes with color and sweet smells. He loved to open the doors first things in the morning and drink in the aromas of the flowers wet with dew. When it came to the vegetable garden, he like to plant the plants and eat the produce but had no patience for the "in-between" parts of weeding and tending the plants. he left that to others. He liked results, not process.

You always knew where you stood with Dave. Subtlety was never his strong suit but his word was his bond. When he told you something, you might or might not like it, but you knew it was true, and you could count on it. He always said, "Don't ask me if you don't want to know." We will all miss his quick wit, his ready smile and his zest for life. Dave was deeply loved and admired by his family. He realized he was a fortunate man. He could sit quietly, appreciating everything around him, and feel truly grateful. We are grateful to have known him.

He is survived by his wife of thirty years, Ellen Hollingsworth of Punta Gorda, FL; his son, David and his wife, Kaoru Hollingsworth and grandsons, Christopher and Orion, all of St Croix, UVI.

Services will be held in St Croix at a later date. In lieu of flowers, and in memory of Dave, the family requests donations to the Wounded Warriors Project. Please visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org

Kays-Ponger & Uselton Funeral Home, Punta Gorda Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

I am standing on the seashore.

Suddenly a ship at my side, spreads her white sail to the morning breeze,

And starts out for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength,

And I stand and watch her

Until at length, she is only a ribbon of white cloud

Just above where the sea and sky mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, "There! She's gone!"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight, that's all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar

As she was when she left my side,

And just as able to bear her load of living freight to

The place of destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not her,

And just at the moment when someone by my side says,

"There! She's gone!"

There are other voices ready to take the glad shout,

"There she comes!"