Ronald Ivan David died in Carriacou on June 04, 2021 at the age of 97. He was the father of ten children, Erva Dabreo, Gemma Erma McIntosh, Emma Brunson, Jocelyn Colosuanno, Bernard (Mambo) David, Merle Anderson, Millie, Eugene and Dale David and Trevor Coy. He was also grandfather of 22 and great grandfather of eight.
While he was born in St Pauls, Grenada it was his choice to make Carriacou his home after the war. At the age of 19, David enlisted in the British Army during World War II. According to him when he first went to sign up, he was told that his height was short by a couple of inches. Well, he grew a couple of inches by the next time he checked in and was accepted. He was then shipped off to Saint Lucia for initial training. From there he was moved to the USA and upon completion was stationed in Italy.
In sharing stories of his experience in the army he said that while there, his platoon was responsible for rounding up the German prisoners and took them by ship to Egypt and placed them behind bars. When the war ended he was given the opportunity to visit the Holy Lands including Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Jacob’s well, the Sea of Galilee and other Biblical sights. He remained in the army and took advantage of training in using Morse code. He made many lifelong friends there all of whom he has outlived.
When he returned from the army, David was employed by the Cable and Wireless Company and in October of the same year, he was relocated to Carriacou as Assistant Wireless Operator. He fell in love with the island from the start so it’s no wonder that he made it his home.
For 37 years he worked with the government and upon retirement migrated to the USA in 1985 where he worked for Lansdell Security Service for 13 years. He also worked as a Home Health care aid as a side job. As a man who never liked to be idle, David completed a Real Estate course and became a Real Estate sales agent.
As a strong believer in the Lord Jesus, David was heavily involved in outreach and prison ministries in the US. He returned to Carriacou in 1998 where he led the Evangelical Church for eight years and the Pilgrim Bible church for 20 years.
He loved sharing his knowledge, especially with young people; so he did whatever he could have to help them grow and develop into decent men and women. David was a physically strong man, and was active in sports as he taught netball to Carriacou public school children, and tennis to Bishop College students. He also trained people to play tennis and formed a tennis team that competed against a team from Grenada including former Prime Minister Sir Eric Matthew Gary.