David Donald Carlson

April 20, 1938 - June 11, 2022

David (Dave) Donald Carlson was born April 20, 1938, to Hjalmar and Ellen (Strand) Carlson. He was born at the Swedish Deaconess Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dave passed away on June 11, 2022, at the age of 84, at his home in Redlands, California, with his loving wife of almost 60 years, Grace Carlson, by his side. He met Grace at youth group at Emmanuel Church in Burbank, CA when they both were thirteen years old. He has loved and adored her ever since. They were married at Mission Covenant Church in Pasadena, CA, on August 30, 1962. Dave cherished his family. He will be missed greatly by his wife and his children, Sheryl (Scot) Myhr (Redlands, CA), Deanna (Anthony) Stacy (Alexandria, VA), David (Erika) Carlson (Redlands, CA), and seven grandchildren - Corrie and Esther Myhr, Summer and William Stacy, and Anders, Christian and Evelina Carlson. Dave served with the U.S. Army from 1957-1959. He will be buried at Riverside National Cemetery on Friday, June 17th, and a celebration of his life will follow at Trinity Church (1551 Reservoir Road, Redlands, CA) on Saturday, June 18th. He is predeceased by his parents, Hjalmar and Ellen (Strand) Carlson; his brother Luverne Carlson and sister-in-law May; his sister Elaine Swanson and brother-in-law John, and his nephew Trent Carlson. Dave trusted Jesus as His Lord and Savior at a young age. His favorite Bible passage was Psalm 23. His faith grounded him and launched him into a life of service through real estate in the City of Glendale, Orange County, and the City of Redlands for over 50 years. He had his real estate broker’s license and a GRE designation and built and ran his own real estate business, the David D. Carlson Company, for 12 years in Irvine. He was always satisfied with the joy of knowing he helped someone and said that the pleasure that comes from a satisfied client outweighed any monetary reward. Dave was a family and community man and focused his extra time around his children’s activities, family vacations, and church. His favorite activities were being helpful to anyone he came in contact with, going to family camp annually at Forest Home Christian Conference Center, gardening with Grace, watching baseball (especially the Dodgers and Angels), coaching sports, camping, fixing up houses to sell, jogging, clothes shopping, singing in the church choir, celebrating his Swedish upbringing through traditions and food, and helping his grandchildren with their lemonade stands. Dave and Grace had their first home in Glendale, CA, and then raised their family in Irvine, CA, from 1971-1983 until they moved to Fullerton, CA, to be closer to their church home, First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton. Dave and Grace moved to Redlands, CA, in 2002 as Dave served on staff at Forest Home Christian Conference Center from 2000-2005. Dave never met a stranger. He was the best joke-teller our family has ever known. Dave had the gifts of encouragement and mercy - bringing laughter and a smile to all. He was God’s gift to his family and friends, and we will forever hold him in our hearts. In Dave’s memory, in lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to these organizations: OMF International https://partnerhub.omf.org/projects Forest Home https://www.foresthome.org/give/ Designate “Carlson Family Endowment”