My Great Uncle Dave
Remembering My Great-Uncle Dave
Today we celebrated the life of my Great-Uncle Dave—my grandma (my mom's mom) Connie's brother passed away on September 14, 2026. He was 83, a happy man, a jokester and an entrepreneur. Always a smile on his face at least in my memory. He founded the trucking company DROH, a name created from his own initials: David Reginald Osman Hall. For 50 years, Uncle Dave and Aunt Susan, along with their two sons, ran Droh Inc., a trucking business in Cambridge, Ontario.
Uncle Dave was the husband of my Great-Aunt Susan for 61 years. A true team. He cared deeply for both his immediate and extended family, and his warmth could always be felt. I loved hearing his stories and I was proud of him this past year when he shared that The Great Lakes Truck Club did a magazine story on his company.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the Christmas gatherings that Uncle Dave and Aunt Susan hosted for our extended family. Their home would be filled with a big tree, decor, home made food that smelled amazing, relatives filling every corner, little bowls of nuts complete with nutcrackers and so much love. They gave us a place where we could come together and experience the joy of truly belonging to a family. While the adults talked, the kids usually played hide and seek running up and down and around their house, or played pool on the table in the basement and sometimes if we stayed late enough we would get to try out the organ in their house.
I also remember our summer family picnics in Listowel. The great-aunts and great-uncles made those days so much fun, with baseball games, relay races, participaction walks around the Maitland River, feeding the ducks, climbing the big rock, going to the big park, tag around the pavilion, and plenty of connection. Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was to grow up surrounded by that kind of love.
Uncle Dave was also a man of faith—a faith I am sure was passed down from his parents, my great grandparents, and carried forward through his own life. After a health scare a few years ago, he suggested that God wasn’t finished with him on this earth yet. That simple statement revealed something important about him: his trust in God, his sense of purpose and his gratitude for the life he had been given.
When I think of my Great-Uncle Dave, I think of happiness, humour, hard work, faith and family. I think of Christmases filled with love and summer picnics filled with fun. Most of all, I think of a man who helped create precious memories that will remain.
What a wonderful legacy to leave behind.