David J. Theobald

In Sacramento on February 27, 2014. Dave passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 89. He was born in Bloomington, IL on April 5th, 1924 to Darrell and Laurette Theobald. Dave joined the Army at the age of 18 and was a decorated World War II Army veteran in the Fighting 69th Infantry. He led as a first scout, clearing the way for his division to safely forge battles toward their victorious conclusion in Germany. After his discharge, he attended Northwestern University, was the sporst editor for The Daily Northwestern and graduating with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. He followed his parents to live in Walnut Creek, California where he met the love of his life, Jeanne Willinger. They married in Modesto, began their life together in San Francisco and settled down in Fresno where their daughters Jane, Ann, Susan and Beth were born. Dave began his career with the Monroe Calculating Company in sales. He left Monroe for a field engineering position with the California Division of Highways in Fresno. Later, Dave was transferred to the traffic department in the Sacramento headquarters office, pursued further education and became a registered civil engineer. He had a very successful career which included designing the "Wrong Way" sign and the 20 foot directional arrow. He retired in 1986 after 30 years of service as a Supervising Transportation Engineer. Dave and Jeanne made their life in Sacramento. He was active in St. Mary Parish and the Knight's of Columbus. He supported his daughters' many activities including years of early morning College Greens swim meets. The family spent summers in Twain Harte, fishing on the north fork of the American river, playing rounds of golf, and late nights of bridge on the cabin deck. Dave and Jeanne enjoyed traveling abroad, including several cruises and most notably retracing Dave's military steps through Europe. Last May, Dave and Jeanne celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Dave was an avid sports fan. He cheered for the 49ers in good times and in bad. He and his daughters walked miles to sit in the family cheering section to root for the Cal Golden Bears!! The ultimate event was attending the 1996 Rose Bowl with his brother Joe to watch his Northwestern Wildcats play USC. Dave was preceded in death by his parents Laurette and Darrell, brother Michael and daughter Jane. He is lovingly survived by wife, Jeanne, brother D. Joseph Theobald, daughters Ann (Richard) Petrie, Susan (Greg) Humm, Beth (Tom) Anderson, grandchildren Michael, Ryan, Kathryn and Sean Humm, Blake, Erik and Roxanne Anderson, step-grandchildren Paula Enos and Karrie Nye and three great grand children. Friends were welcomed for visitation on Monday (3/3) from 4pm-7pm at W.F. Gormley & Sons Chapel, 2015 Capitol Avenue where a Vigil Service began at 7:00pm. A Mass of Christian Burial was held at St. Mary Church, 1333 58th Street, on Tuesday (3/4) at 11:00am. He was laid to rest with military honors at Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery, Dixon, CA on Wednesday (3/5) at 2:30pm. In lieu of flowers remembrances may be made to St. Mary Church or School.