PORT CHARLOTTE, FL
David (Dave) William Bessire of Port Charlotte, FL, passed away on April 5, 2024, after a brief but sudden illness at the age of 82. Dave was born in 1941 in Columbus, IN, to Philip and Fern Bessire, and grew up in Nashville, IN, surrounded by his three brothers and three sisters and other close family. In his younger years, Dave helped his family by working at his father’s orchard where apples and peaches were grown, and made into cider and other goods. Rumor has it that he started driving the orchard truck at the age of 11 and earned a whopping $0.10 per hour for his labors! He also enjoyed fishing and hunting from an early age, and his family had a long interest in going to Florida to fish Lake Okeechobee every year as well as visiting their grandparent’s second home on Anna Maria Island.
Dave graduated from Nashville High School in 1959 and was the starting guard on the basketball team that won the 1959 Columbus sectionals, and the first game of regionals. He was very proud of his and his teammates’ accomplishments, having gone 21-2 during the season. Dave also excelled at baseball and was offered an athletic scholarship to an out-of-state school that he chose not to accept, in favor of attending Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington. Close friends will tell you that he was a welcomer and great friend to everyone during these years, and earned the nickname “Rooter” which he was called by his friends to this day. Dave graduated from IU in 1963 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Education (with a focus on Biology) and attained a Master’s of Science degree in Education in 1971. Dave was a proud member of the Sigma Nu fraternity and he met his wife of over 54 years, Olivia (Libby) Cleland Bessire, while waiting tables at her IU sorority house, Kappa Delta.
Dave and Libby were married in Indiana in 1963 after college graduation and were happily married until Libby’s death in 2017. Together they proudly raised two children, Laura and Mike, who now have families of their own. Dave began his teaching career at Brown County High School where he worked from 1963-1968 (and where Libby served as Librarian) and coached basketball at Brown County Junior High. In 1969, Dave and Libby moved to Port Charlotte, Florida, with one-year-old Laura in tow and Mike was born not long after. Dave worked as a teacher of Biology, Marine Biology and Anatomy &Physiology at Charlotte High School until 1978, when he joined the Charlotte Teacher’s Association (CTA) as Executive Director. Dave served the CTA until 1992, when he moved to the Florida Education Association (FEA) as an Arbitrator and Consultant until his retirement in 2007. Throughout his long career, Dave was respected and loved by so many of his students and co-workers, and formed many life-long friendships that continue to this day. He has been characterized as professional, empathetic, intelligent and a great listener, and someone who focused on finding the best solution to a tricky problem.
After retirement, Dave focused his time and energy on fishing, coin collecting, and visiting family and friends. Dave probably fished most lakes in Florida and loved to go on remote fishing excursions in Canada with his life-long friends Charlie, Jim, Frank, Maurie and others, and in later years with Vicki Kirby. Family and friends remember Dave as a wonderful story-teller with a keen sense of humor, who may have stretched the truth a few times about the size of the fish or how far uphill (both ways!) he had to walk to school as a youngster. He loved to watch his grandchildren in their athletic pursuits, attending many soccer, golf and running events over the years. He was a beloved “Papaw” to his grandkids Tucker, Tanner, Nicholas and Ana Sophia, and even learned how to text on an iPhone as a way to keep in close touch.
Dave is survived by his daughter Laura Bessire Kidd (and Conrad) of Evergreen, Colorado, his son Mike Bessire (and Ann Marie) of Orlando, Florida, his four grandchildren Tucker (and Toni), Tanner (and Robert), Nicholas and Ana Sophia, his great-grandson Callan, his brothers Jack Bessire (and Barbara) and Dick Bessire, his sisters Janet Higgins and Jenny Nicol (and Ron), his life partner Vicki Kirby, and many much-loved cousins, nieces and nephews. Dave’s paternal grandfather, Dale Bessire, and his maternal grandmother, Sybil Connell, were both well-known artists in the Brown County art community whose paintings are still sought after, even today. Dave made friends wherever he went and many claimed him as a “second dad.” This wonderful, gregarious, funny, caring and generous man will be greatly missed by all, but will live on in our hearts and memories forever.
As per his wishes, there will be no immediate service for Dave but the family will plan a celebration of his life in the future. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Dave Bessire’s memory to the “Bennie’s Bucks” program which helps to fund much-needed veterinary attention for pets whose people who cannot afford critical animal care. This program is through the Redstone Animal Hospital where his granddaughter, Tanner Kidd, works as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). (C/O 9111 South Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, CO, 80125).
