David Girard Springer, age 63, of Tampa, Florida passed away on June 15, 2022. David was born October 22, 1958 in Olathe, Kansas to his parents June V. (Devine) and Donald F. Springer (who predeceased him). He is survived by his beloved wife of 27 years Belinda Carter Springer; his daughter Catherine Springer; his son Carter Houndas; two sisters Michele Springer and Kerry Springer; a brother Sean Devine; a granddaughter Boadicea Houndas; and his nephew Matthew Lehr and niece Lily Lehr. He is preceded in death by his sister Kellie Lehr.
Having lost his mother to breast cancer at an early age, as the eldest child, David worked as a waiter to help support himself and his four siblings. When opportunity availed, he moved from Jacksonville to Tampa with his best friend Don Harvey to attend college where he studied Mass Communications and graduated from the University of South Florida.
David enjoyed a passionate interest in space exploration which stemmed from a meeting in Taiwan with astronauts Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon from the Apollo 12 Mission when he was 11 years old. He continued fueling his excitement for the space program by following launches, visiting Kennedy Space Center, and watching the night sky. He shared the suborbital adventures with Carter and Catherine.
As an early adopter of Apple computers, he created “Indigo Productions,” a business that produced short films, music videos, commercials, and professional graphic design. He participated in local contests and won awards for commercial satires. One of his commercial spoofs aired on a short-lived nationally syndicated TV show. His winning submission was “Microwave Body Mitt” - a product that allows a busy woman to eat her food while it’s cooking!
In the 1980s, he and his friends Doug Martin and Don Harvey developed, wrote, produced, and appeared on film review shows. “Movies in a Minute” with Doug and “Reel to Reel” with Don were recorded and broadcast on Tampa Cable Access. These shows opened opportunities and access to press junkets to New York City where David interviewed Jackie Gleason, Sela Ward, Jim Henson, Tom Hanks, and many other entertainment personalities.
One of the highlights of his personal filmmaking was a satire of Steven Spielberg’s “Poltergeist.” Many friends and family members, including his father, helped with the production and starred in various roles. Years later, on a family trip to Washington D.C, we discovered that this funny short film “Poultrygeist”, a story about a home haunted by a chicken man, had been selected for retention in the U.S. National Archives. David could not have been more surprised or more proud.
His graphic design and photography experience led to a position at Shriners Children’s Hospital in the audiovisual department as videographer and photographer of pediatric orthopedic cases. His photography was acknowledged in Dr. Jon Ogden’s textbook Skeletal Injuries in the Child. His work at Shriners eventually led to his career of almost 30 years at Florida Orthopaedic Institute where he initially demonstrated his acumen with the trauma service and transitioned to his final position as a Senior Systems Analyst.
David’s devotion to Catherine’s education started at an early age; she learned the alphabet as a young toddler when her dad used sticky letters on the bathtub wall, which led to parsing menus, and to early childhood books; his kind patient encouragement resulted in her reading by 3 years old.
David thoroughly enjoyed coaching Catherine’s Warriors and Purple People Eaters volleyball teams with Aunt Lani as co-coach. David participated in and organized many school activities and fundraisers when she attended Corpus Christi Catholic, Temple Terrace Charter School and Brooks-DeBartolo.
David was equally devoted to Carter, always challenging him in a loving way and modeling how to be a good and honest man. Friday nights during football season at Jesuit High School were treasured as the whole family gathered to cheer Carter and the team.
It must be mentioned that David’s favorite place on Earth was Disney World. Luckily he had been selected three different times to ride as the co-pilot in the monorail cockpit. He would always say, half-jokingly that when he retired he was going to be a monorail driver. He’s already trained.
David’s most rewarding role was being a husband and father. He boasted the four happiest events of his life were getting married and becoming an instant dad, loving little Carter as his own; the birth of his daughter Catherine; meeting his baby granddaughter from Down Under, Boadie, who adored her ‘Ampa; and Carter’s return from his tour of duty in Afghanistan.
David possessed numerous talents, but caring for and taking care of his family, patience, kindness, perseverance, and humor were those most cherished.
In spite of David’s incredible qualities , you just didn’t want to be around when somebody put pickles on his sandwich.
A visitation for David will be held Friday, June 24, 2022 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Blount & Curry, Terrace Oaks Funeral Home. A catholic blessing will occur Friday, June 24, 2022 at 6:30 PM.
A Funeral mass will occur Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 12:00 PM at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 9715 N. 56th Street, Temple Terrace, FL 33617.
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