David E Strong

October 20, 1950 - April 28, 2016

On April 28, 2016, at the age of 65, Dave Strong passed away with his wife and daughter at his side in Evanston, IL. Beloved husband to Lily Strong, amazing father to Cara Strong, and awesome grandfather to David Strong. Also survived by siblings Shari (Gene) Summers, Rick (Denny) Strong, Laurie Boyce, Bill (Dian) Strong, Jeanne Strong, and Ellen Baird, and in-laws Oson (Jenny) Chin, and numerous cousins, nieces nephews and friends. Preceded in death by his loving parents, Richard & Mary Ann Strong, brother Jim Strong, niece Kiley Clark-Pietsch, and parents-in-law David and Mary Chin, and a veritable army of other grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-relations, and so on. Dave was born October 20, 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of wonderful parents Richard & Mary Ann (Williams) Strong. Growing up in Denver, Colorado, he was recognized early on for the amazing man he would become, as the neighborhood girls would walk the extra blocks to wait with him for the school bus and offer to hold his books. Not to be distracted from one of his great loves – information – he spent some of his time even as a child reading encyclopedias for fun. It may not be a stretch to believe that he was not too disappointed when he broke his leg as a child and had to sit under a tree reading a book while his siblings played – that is, until one of them tripped over him and broke it again! It is no wonder that the future children in his life, looking for easy answers, soon learned it may be quicker (though less informative) to find answers on their own. A lover of many languages, definitions provided by Dave often included Latin or Greek roots and the era words entered the English language. He earned his Bachelor’s degree, combined with his Master’s degree, in only 3 years at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was the smartest man we have ever known, and even in these most recent days he was surrounded by Science News magazines and piles of sci-fi books that he went through at an incredible rate. Another love of Dave’s, music, bloomed when his parents bought him a guitar at the age of 16. Our favorite singer and musician, there have been endless hours of enjoyment by countless people of his performances at home and with his family at family reunions. Some of our favorite memories will always include the warm feelings we had sitting in a group singing along, or hearing his voice float up the stairs when he sang. A man with a passion for Chinese culture who wanted to help others, his warm heart brought him to Lily Chin, his future wife, at a youth center in St. Therese Church in Chinatown. Planning to return to Colorado from the Midwest, where he had been in school, he sent all of his worldly possessions home and stayed on for a few more days to say goodbye to all of his friends – which luckily for us turned into the rest of his life when he proposed. Lily already knew her answer before he even asked, and the rest is beautiful history. They married in Chicago on March 24, 1973, and after 43 years of marriage she was by his side when he passed. Family was always the most important thing to Dave, and what brought him the most joy. Outside of work, almost every moment was spent at home, teaching us by example how to be good people, how to learn, how to provide for ourselves, and more (even though his daughter was unhappy when he let go of her bicycle and she fell while learning to ride – but she learned!). The semi-annual family reunions were never a question, and some of his biggest smiles came when seeing all the generations of family members (sometimes over 200 people attended of all ages) talking, singing, or just being together. Holidays and family vacations were always full of joy and happiness. We have always felt lucky for the chance that brought us to be a part of this family. As pointed out in the article written about his work at JPM Chase last year, “Two notable events took place in Chicago in 1973 – the Sears Tower first opened its doors and David Strong joined First National Bank of Chicago as a clerk in the Lockbox Department. Forty-two years later, the Sears Tower is a U.S. landmark and Dave Strong is still working with and supporting the Lockbox Department.” Still in his 42nd year when he passed, he may have smiled at the fact that he managed to make it to the answer to “life, the universe and everything” in his professional life. After family, his career at JPM Chase was his biggest priority. Working his way up from clerk to Vice President and Applications Developer Lead, he sometimes stayed up all night long to help with ‘firefighting’ the technical issues that could have caused major problems with many people. We’ve been told he was incredibly smart and patient (we already knew that, but at work too) and has apparently touched the lives of people around the world. Working right until the last moment he could (when he took his first sick day in 42 years), he loved his work and was appreciated for what he did, and you can’t ask for much more than that in a career. Apparently his professional work with computers was not quite enough for him, as he spent much of his free time playing video games (after family, work, music, reading and watching the Bulls/Cubs/Blackhawks/Doctor Who). From his daughter’s childhood (with a Commodore 64!) into his grandson’s (both PC gamers), many hours were spent planning and strategizing (or just shooting), slaying monsters to rescue those who needed it and keep the world safe. Many more happy memories came from hours in the arcades, playing Pacman or competing for the high score in Galaga. He always remembered to play in-between responsibilities and work, a good lesson for all of us. With a unique fashion sense, Dave also had the most incorrigible need to express himself through puns and funny, “educational” stories. Causing many eye rolls throughout meals and conversations, he always had a way of making us all smile (if not groan at the same time). One time he decided to tell us all a story about identical twins, Rhett and Rick. They were curious twins who liked to ask questions, but intelligent enough to know the answers to many of them so didn’t really expect responses. They would, in fact, answer their own questions for their listeners. Apparently they followed this pattern often enough, and were hard enough to tell apart, that people would start saying to others “oh, I don’t know that, but Rhett or Rick’ll tell you.” As often happens in the English language, it got run together a bit, and that’s where we eventually got the term ‘rhetorical question.’ (And yes, since he was so smart, we had to ask to be sure he was making the whole story up). (Not to mention, he also convinced one of us that bleach would turn your skin pink with purple polka dots in an attempt to keep us away from the poison). Even though Dave was a beloved husband/ father/ grandfather/ brother/ cousin/ etc.; a talented musician, incredibly smart, and invaluable to his work (not to mention his work saving the world from monsters), he was still the most humble, laid back, honest, hard-working, generous, non-judgmental and gentle man we’ve known. He shared his gifts with everyone around him without ever expecting anything in return. No matter what life handed to him, he faced it with his wonderful laugh, beautiful smile, a twinkle in his eyes, perhaps a raised eyebrow, and never complained. He never had an unkind word to say about anyone, and taught us true patience and love. His spirit lives on in all of us.