David Leroy Shuck

Dave Shuck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, passed away early Monday morning, August 25th, 2025 at age 90. He’d lived a good long life and our lives are vastly richer for having had him with us for so long.

Born in Glasgow, Montana on October 20, 1934, to Elizabeth Carrie (Phillips) and Warren Joel Shuck, he was the first of four brothers: Frank O., Robert R., and Richard D. As the son of a Civil Engineer and a woman who’d always dreamt of being an Architect, like her father – both of whom had grown up on farms in South Dakota – he had an interesting mix of, well, interests.

He loved: the absolute rules and crisp dependability of mathematics, as well as the variability in engineering that could result from changing a single factor; the vastly different qualities and character of different types of trees, and also the precision of woodworking; he loved Nature in its myriad forms, always in a state of flux, but was at the same time committed to making it conform – absolutely – to his will in gardening. And he loved his wife, Anna – for 68 years.

Dave met Anna Louise Hatzfeld in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1956, when they were both attending Carnegie Tech. Dave’s fraternity brother, Bill Barcley wanted to go to an away football game with his girlfriend, Dottie Chitester and for Dave to go, too. He needed Dave to go, because Dave had access to his family’s car and could drive them all to the game. But Dave didn’t have a date, so Bill set him up with Anna. The day after the game, Dottie’s mother said to her, “Those two are going to get married.” Anna thought at the time that that was silly; after all, it had only been a single blind date! But indeed, the date was a success. They married April 13, 1957.

Dave worked as a chemical engineer throughout his career, including at Westinghouse R & D, Wyoming Mineral Corp., Resource Technologies Group, Denver Water Department, and Canonie Environmental Services. His career took him and the family across the country with stops in Buffalo, NY, Ames, IA, Pittsburgh and Monroeville, PA, and Littleton and Golden, CO before he retired. Dave and Anna then moved first to Midland, TX and then to Albuquerque, NM to be near their children and grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Anna; daughters Kristen Gould and Erika Harvey; grandchildren/great-grandchildren Rebecca Gould & son Hunter; Zachary & wife Hillari (Neely) Gould, their children Paxtyn & Jace; Alicia & husband Douglas Ubeda Harvey, their daughter Clara; Evan & wife Lydia (Thompson) Harvey; Frank Shuck’s wife, Jane Hanna; and nephews & nieces Bob & Sue Shuck; Cathy Shuck-Sparer & husband Tim Sparer, their son Aidan; Jeff & wife Jeanie Shuck, their children, Matthew, Johnny, Ellie, and Danny. He was predeceased by brothers Richard, Frank, and Robert Shuck & Robert’s wife Fran (Bebic) Shuck; and great niece Sierra Shuck-Sparer.

Dave was an organ and tissue donor and chose to be cremated.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Dave on Monday, November 3rd, 2025.

Memorial Donations may be made to: Hero’s Path Palliative Care

https://www.herospathpalliativecare.org

Hero’s Path supports families of children facing serious illness with short-break outdoor respite programs, outdoor nature education programs, and will start family support groups soon. Through their partnership with Children’s Respite Homes of America, Hero’s Path strives to increase awareness about the need for pediatric respite homes.

Dave’s favorite admonishment was --

Never, but Never Question the Engineer’s Judgement