David Hustad

April 17, 2024, David was kissed good night and told that he was loved by his wife and ‘partner in crime’ Joanne. David was released from all his pain and passed peacefully the morning of April 18, 2024.

David was preceded in death by his parents, Harvey and Christine (Gretchen) (nee Schoen) Hustad, to whom he was born on May 4, 1946, in Owatonna, MN. As a youth, he lived in Dearborn, MI, before moving to the Chicago area where he watched with amazement the construction of the Marina City twin towers, dreaming of living there someday.

In addition to his wife, Joanne Heenan Hustad, he is survived by his precious snow-shoe Siamese companion, Penny, and numerous Hustad and Heenan family members; David is much beloved and will be missed by his siblings Daniel (Cindy), Christine (PJ) Ryan, Heidi (John) Kevorkian, Thomas (Anne), and Patricia Lischke and nephews and nieces Nicholas, Raymond (Mary Beth), Aberdeen Ryan, and Vincent, Martin, God-daughter Emily Hustad. He is also survived by his son Daniel (Leslie) Shingleton and grandchildren Sabrina and Scott.

David was much loved by his extended ‘outlaw’ Heenan family: his ‘drinking buddy‘ the late Kathleen (Jay) Bailey, Patrick (Monica), Marianne (David) McDermott, another ‘drinking buddy’ the late Roberta (William) Ramos, Maureen (John) Dillon, Diane (Eric) Swenson and Daniel Heenan and numerous nieces and nephews. Not to minimize his affection for all his Hustad and Heenan nieces and nephews, David was especially fond of the Baileys with whom he was closest.

David served in the US Army in Viet Nam from October 1967 through November 1969 and was awarded several medals, including the Viet Nam Service and Viet Nam Campaign. Military leaves afforded David travel to Japan, Thailand, Australia, and several European countries with his brother from another mother, the late Michael T. Carroll. After his military service, he attended University of Illinois Chicago where he earned his BS with a double major in Geology and Industrial Psychology. Following college, David was employed in numerous capacities in the restaurant business, including manager for several businesses. While at Gordon Restaurant, he met Joanne; he would joke that he liked to take his work home with him. Eventually he made a career change and found his true calling and happiness as a Teamster in the trade show division.

In 1980, his dream came true when he and Joanne moved into Marina City. As a longtime resident, he enjoyed container gardening, watching fireworks, taking in the skyline and viewing beautiful skies at sunrise and sunset. He was an amateur meteorologist tracking the daily sunrise/sunset as well as daily and average atmospheric data with his desk top weather station. The last time he ventured outside was in his wheelchair to the Marina City riverfront to view the partial eclipse of the sun.

Since October 2001, David was a traumatic brain injury survivor who stubbornly and valiantly relearned to speak and walk. Joanne will be forever grateful for Star Trek Next: The Generation helping him to form complete thoughts and finding the right words (sometimes). Upon discharge after many months of acute and rehabilitation hospital care, he received on-going physical and speech therapy in home. At first resistant to cooperate with his speech therapist, viewing an episode of STNG broke through a barrier. With considerable effort, he began describing scenes as he viewed the episode. His speech therapist continued to use STNG during his long recovery period. Already infamous for mangling the English language, aphasia made his vocabulary even more colorful. Most recently, when experiencing muscle pain, he would ask for ‘hamster’ cream (Aspercreme). Because the TBI also caused disinhibition, he rendered blistering criticisms and sincere compliments because he was incapable of telling a lie. You always knew where you stood with him.

Subsequently, David experienced seizures and numerous health issues. Although he described himself as having a ‘bad attitude,’ he always cooperated with and appreciated the care and advice that his doctors and medical staff at Northwestern Medicine provided, and he could be a bit challenging at times especially when his wicked sense of humor surfaced. A few years ago, when he was to have an MRI brain scan, he told the technician that he had a metal plate in his head just for the heck of it. During recent hospital stays, when he got fed up with the standard awareness questions and was asked his name and location, he told the staff that he was Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas.

David’s life will be celebrated this Spring when a small gathering of his family and friends will raise a Grey Goose vodka martini toast to a life well lived. Private interment will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Owatonna, MN, where he will rest alongside his parents and beloved grandmother, Christine Schoen. Donations made in David’s name would be appreciated to The Brain Injury Association of Illinois, https://biail.org/