Dave - not Mr. Parkhurst; that was his father - was born in Belfast, Maine to Caroline Colwell and David B. Parkhurst Sr. on a chilly day in January 1953. By the time summer rolled around that year, the family had decamped to Lakeside Drive, in West Boothbay Harbor. Growing up there, Dave waited for the bus with 38 other kids, many of whom remained devoted friends until the end. From an early age, Dave worked for his father at Boothbay Crab & Lobster (now Boothbay Lobster Wharf), where his hours were reduced from 12 to 8 during high school summers, so he could attend football practice. During this time, Dave cultivated a lifelong love of basketball and football, playing for the YMCA and local schools and becoming so passionate, in fact, that David, Sr. said if he felt the need to complain about the referees, he should put his money where his mouth was and take the exam. That Dave did, in 1977, becoming somewhat of a legend on the Maine high school basketball circuit for 49 years, even attending ref meetings after his illness retired him. As he used to say, “where else can you get hollered at for an hour and a half and get paid for it?” 

During his teenage years, the Parkhurst family hosted at least 7 foreign exchange students. One of these students, Erna from Iceland, became a 6th sibling of the Parkhurst family. Her family graciously hosted Dave on their island of Vestmannaeyar in the summer of 1969 and he remained part of the family thereafter. Thirty years after his first trip to Iceland, he sent his own son to live with Erna for the year and followed up at least six more times with trips to “his” island, Heimaey.  

In high school he also fell in love with a beautiful East Boothbay girl, Cathie Cook, whom he dated throughout his college years at SMCC (then SMTC, which he affectionately called SMTVGuide), where he earned an associate’s in marine biology. After graduation, Dave moved to upstate New York to do research with Texas Instruments on the Hudson River - a veritable petri dish of biological activity in the 1970s - where he again gained a coterie of friends, many of whom he kept in touch with the rest of his life. Each time he had a chance, he drove his yellow VW Beetle back up to Maine to see his girlfriend in Boothbay or Farmington, where she was in college. The summer following her college graduation, he married that East Boothbay girl, with whom he celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary this June, still very much in love. Shortly after his wedding, he was offered and accepted a job with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, located in Boothbay Harbor, where he dedicated 25 years to the Lobster Project. After his retirement from DMR, he worked a series of positions, but his one true profession remained as referee, particularly if he could blow the whistle alongside his friends. 

In the fall of 1979, he welcomed his first child, Kate. Thus began a new passion of Dave’s: fatherhood. The next year, he and Cathie bought a plot of land off Route 27 and accidentally cleared it immediately with a brush fire, building their forever home there in 1980-1981. Once his room was ready, his son Jordan came along in 1982. Ever since, Dave has lived his life for his children, about whom he would talk proudly to anyone with ears. He spent hours volunteering with friends for the Boosters’ Club (continuing long after his kids were out of sports), walked 100 miles from Bangor to Boothbay to raise money for new stop clocks for the YMCA pool and helped raise money for Light it Up, to put lights on the local athletic field. He attended every possible game, meet, play, and school function for his children. He was there to patiently teach them numbers with a cup of coins, explaining calmly why one thing or another would be just fine, passing down the art of stacking wood or following them around the ski slopes, but above all, that they must always lead with kindness in life. He was there with a smile on his face and tear in his eye to watch both walk the graduation line at BRHS, there to drive Kate to Orono and to fly to Los Angeles with Jordan, and there to watch both walk their graduation lines in college.  

In 2007, his heart grew even larger, becoming a Papa to granddaughter, Ava Cathlene, and in 2012 to Sophia Anna, to whom he became as devoted as was to his children. The entire Boothbay region is likely aware of every success and activity of his granddaughters, of whom he was immensely proud and by whom he was immensely loved.  

As with his children, he attended every possible recital, game, match, ceremony, and event for his grandchildren, even making it to Ava’s high school graduation in June, insisting on sitting through the whole ceremony and driving the family home afterward. He ran an annual Father’s Day race with his daughter for many years, ecstatic when Sophia would join in later years, and helped fundraise for his daughter’s annual Tri for the Cure triathlon, meeting her at the race finish every year, except - to his immense disappointment - this one.  

Dave is survived by his wife, Cathie Parkhurst of Boothbay, his daughter, Kate Carpenter (Mark) and granddaughters, Ava and Sophia, of Scarborough, and his son, Jordan of Los Angeles, his siblings Geoff (Michelle) Parkhurst, Matt Parkhurst and Beth Skinner, his wife’s siblings Mike (Karen) Cook, Mary Jane (John) Tracy, and Jackie Cook as well as several beloved nieces, nephews, cousins and several hundred friends throughout the United States and Iceland. 

A Celebration of Life will be held on Aug. 9 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Brown’s Wharf (121 Atlantic Avenue, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538) - additional parking available at the Catholic Church. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to MPBN (www.mainepublic.org/ways-to-give or 63 Texas Ave., Bangor, ME 04401) or the Eastside Waterfront Park (P.O. Box 55, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538). 

Arrangements are under the care of Hall Funeral Home and Cremation Services. To share a memory or condolence with the Parkhurst family, visit www.hallfuneralhomes.com.