David Durham, RIP

A friend of mine, David Durham, died as a result of a bout with cancer today at age 59. David was a life long fan of Ohio State football, and all things Ohio State as it goes.




Dave was brought up in Galipolis, Ohio, and like any resident of there would tell you he's from the same hometown of the breakfast and comfort food giant Bob Evans. After spending much of his life in Ohio and close to the Horseshoe, Dave later made his life in his second hometown of Chicago, where his business practice and acclimation for public service drove him to get involved in civic duties. Most recently, Dave took up the role as President of The Rotary Club of Chicago, the world's oldest service club.

Morever, and most important to me is that Dave was the kind of guy you could lower your guard around; a normal guy for a good conversation.

As a sports fan, and a particularly enthusiastic one, he was comfortable both in extolling his love for OSU and the Big Ten and poking a little fun in the arena of sports conversation. Often, if you ventured into conversation about college football, he might lend a little levity to the discussion of football with some trash talk toward the around upcoming football battles.

I remember one time asking him about the Michigan fight song "The Victors" and moreover why it seemed that every Ohio State fan I met knew the song by heart. Dave then met my question with the parody version of the song including its more colorful language. So that answered my question in full.

His enthusiasm for life and sport brings back that old Bill Shankly saying that has popped up in my mind a thousand times:

“Some people think that football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.”

Certainly that's an exageration, and one laced with humor, poking fun at the football fan's fervor. But the words do hammer out a simple fact: That besides life and family, love for the experience of life can take many forms.

Furthermore, cheering for your team, as Dave did amply, is a noble thing. Also, enjoying a good football game, built up by the experience of witnessing it with family and friends throughout a lifetime can make for a passion that does, so it seems, become a matter of life and death.

Rest in peace, Dave.