Bettler, David T.
Obituary
Our loving husband and father of 4 children, David Bettler passed away suddenly & unexpectedly in the early morning hours of December 6, 2017. He was the firstborn son to Ellen & Marcellus Bettler on Christmas day 1942. David and his younger brother, Michael grew up in a modest Houston home to devoted parents. His fun-loving mom stayed home to raise them as their dad served overseas during World War II. When his father was back home, he and the boys joined the boy scouts & he became their Troup Leader. The boys became Eagle Scouts and through this, they were taught important life skills & lessons through the many activities provided. This fostered David’s creativity, which eventually lead him to discover his life’s’ passion as he explored the world of engineering. He graduated from Bellaire high school in 1961 and moved to Dallas to study mechanical engineering at SMU. While there, he was a member of Delta Chi, Sigma Tau, and Pi Tau Sigma. He also spent 2 years involved in a work-study co-op program at NASA that further fueled his passion of engineering. He secured employment at Texas Instruments in 1964, prior to graduating from SMU in 1966 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, he continued his employment with Texas Instruments and lead his team as they were commissioned to work through a partner company in Germany. After a few years in Germany, David and his family settled in Richardson, TX in 1984, where he continued to work for TI which eventually became Raytheon. After 30 plus years with the company, he decided to retire. But that didn’t last long. He went back to work for 2 more years at Continental Electronics before deciding to retire a second time. Once again, this didn’t last long. A former colleague presented him with an offer he couldn’t refuse, and he helped to start up MEMtronics in 2002. A few years into his tenure with MEMtronics, David began to show signs of forgetfulness and trouble focusing. Those closest to him feared this was the beginning of Alzheimer’s, which he had lost his father to years before. He decided to retire for the final time in 2012. Throughout his adult life, David used every opportunity to travel as often as he could. It always was a very important part of his life. Some of his favorite places were Europe in general, like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy just to name a few but of course other countries like Australia & Japan made the list as well. He was even able to enjoy some cruises to the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. During the last years of his life, it became a regular part of any conversation he had. His other retirement activities included reading books on history, clipping articles from the newspaper and emailing them to everyone he knew, and spending time with family and friends. But when travel was no longer an option for him, his favorite thing became walking the neighborhood and wherever else he could. In the last few months of his life, David physically lost his strength and ability to walk. However, he never lost his memory of walking and in fact, his mind created new and elaborate memories of walking around the world several times over. The stories that came from this phenomenon were fascinating, and he loved telling them. Although we are utterly heartbroken to now be without him, we believe that it was his time to go. We take comfort in knowing that he no longer needs to be in any more facilities, as he so desperately wanted to be home. David really is free now, to travel, fly, cruise and walk to all the places he dreamed. Until we see you again, we will miss you always. David is survived, loved, and superbly missed by his wife, Gabi; daughters Jill with husband John, Nicki with husband Ronnie, Amy with husband Chris; son Brian & long-time love Michaela; grandchildren Ashley, Brittany, Brantly, JD, Johnny, Kody and Charlotte; his brother Michael; sister-in-law’s Monika with husband Dan, Ingrid with husband Gordon; Aunt Nancy, nieces, nephews, many cousins and friends. Memorial Services will be held:
- Friday January 5th 2018 @ 1:00pm
- Heights Baptist Church (chapel) 201 W. Renner Rd. Richardson, TX 75080
- Reception to follow. Location pending at this time. More information will be provided at time of service.
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We’re deeply sorry for the loss of Uncle David. He was a wonderful uncle to me and an all around great guy and we will miss him. Please know that you will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. Much love, Bettina & family
I was so sorry for your lose. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers.