David Rosendahl

David Rosendahl, age 76, of Tamarac, Florida, passed away Monday, May 24, 2021.
David was born on July 27, 1944 in Fort Pierce, Florida, to Thomas and Betty Rosendahl. His father was in the Navy stationed there at the time. He spent some of his childhood in Illinois, but later the family moved back to Ft. Pierce. He always loved the fact that he was a native Floridian.

In his late teens, he joined the Navy and was a Sonarman on a destroyer in the Mediterranean. After bouncing around in the ocean for 4 years, he was never really keen on going on pleasure cruises after we were married.

We met one night at our high school gym where I was attending a sports event, and he was on leave. He wrote a song for our 50th anniversary saying it was ‘love at first sight.’ A year later, after 4 years of naval service he came back to Ft. Pierce, and we were married on August 14, 1965. Our courtship was definitely long distance through the mail. I even think my engagement ring came in the mail! Our son, Brian, was born in 1968 and our daughter, Christine, was born in 1971.

David would be the first to tell you that during High School he was not a good student academically and also very misbehaved – which is probably putting it mildly. But after we were married, he was a hard worker and was determined to go back to school. Long nights of study and lots of coffee enabled him to earn a degree in Electronic Engineering. He also had a successful career as a Bank Manager and then 20 years as a Real Estate Broker.

When he was in his 30’s, a co-worker started witnessing to him about the Lord and about being saved. David tried to avoid him for weeks, which was impossible because they worked in adjoining cubicles. Finally, he accepted an invitation to go to church. We went several times, and at the end of a preaching service on an Easter Sunday, he said a very, very short salvation prayer: “OK, God, I’m through!” What did that mean? It meant he was tired of running from God, and he submitted his whole heart to the Savior. God gave him forgiveness of sins, a change of heart, and a change of life-style. He always told people, I am not the same person I used to be, giving credit to the Lord Jesus for changing his life.

And what a change it was! In the late 1970’s, God led David to take our family to Calvary Baptist Church, now First Baptist Church of Coconut Creek. The preaching of the Word by Spencer Williamson, Jerry Williamson, and Adam Alley literally changed our lives. David loved to be in church; he loved to give; he loved to be with God’s people. We made forever friends. He witnessed to family, friends and neighbors.

As a realtor, his business was about people, not about money. He never wanted any accolades for himself. Over the past week, our family has received so many texts from people telling us what he meant to them, but he would never have expected that kind of outpouring of respect and love for himself.

He loved his children, his grandchildren and great grandchildren, and they loved him.

David and I were married for 55 years. As a husband, he cooked for me almost every night. He made coffee for me every morning. We had fun playing Scrabble and Rummikub, and he hated it when he beat me. We loved to just go for drives at night. Sometimes when we were deciding on something to do, he would say, I just want to make you happy. He had that kind of heart.

David went home to be with the Lord on Monday, May 24, after a very short time of illness. It came way too quickly for me, but I have asked God to lift my mind to the truth that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. David was not afraid to die. He knew Jesus had washed away his sin and had given him eternal life, and more than anything in the world he wanted everyone in his family to receive the Lord and to have the same assurance. I am still trusting God to answer his prayers.

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