David B. Melton, 81, of the Villages, Florida, passed away on November 14th, 2023 after a brief, but difficult battle with illness.

Dave was born on July 6th, 1942 to Louise and Berlie Melton in Sparta Tennessee.

Later, his family moved to Fort Pierce, his true hometown. He graduated from Dan McCarty High School in May of 1960 in Fort Pierce, Florida. He went on to study at a technical school in Miami for control & instrumentation engineering and graduated at the top of his class. He began his career in engineering in St. Petersburg with Honeywell where he was involved with three space programs and later moved to central Wisconsin.

Following Honeywell, he co-founded Specialty Marine Systems, an independent engineering company. He worked on large oil tankers during that time and traveled to many different places such as Florida, Texas, and exotic destinations like Singapore, Curacao & St. Croix. Later, he and his wife operated a small record store, he joined the electrical union, and he spent some time building computers in his basement. For his remaining working years he acted as Maintenance Manager for Paper Board, a division of Consolidated Papers in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

Following retirement there were many wonderful years where he and his wife enjoyed traveling to Lakewood, Wisconsin where they enjoyed the cool summers, and returned to Florida for warm winters. His many passions and hobbies included muscle cars, ham radio (which he began at the age of 14), motorcycles, playing and singing guitar, and scuba diving. All of his interests added up to some great storytelling.

He loved singing karaoke at Club 32 in Lakewood, driving his motorcycle on beautiful Wisconsin and Florida roadways, and the occasional fireworks by the lakeshore. He owned many classic cars, but his favorite was a '67 Chevy Nova II.  In Lakewood he loved heading up family cookouts, dining out at Maiden Lake, fishing, and spending time with friends around Lakewood. He enjoyed several adventurous motorcycle rides to Canada, Niagara Falls, Minocqua, and Copper Harbor. He also loved scuba diving while in Aruba.

He loved life but hated "those idiots", whom he often let know with hand gestures, foul language, or both. Colorful language made frequent appearances during most building projects, and sometimes while making breakfast for one reason or another.

During the fourteen years of snowbird lifestyle, Dave continued to enjoy life by souping up golf-carts, scuba diving in local fresh water springs, and revving up his Nova to wake up his neighbors. He also joined clubs for guitar picking and ham radio.

After fourteen years of the snowbird lifestyle, Dave & Fran decided to finally retire full-time to the Villages in 2016. He loved spending time with all his children and grandchildren. We will miss his hearty laugh, fantastic guitar music, love of all his special radios, cars, diving excursions, going fast in whatever vehicle he was driving, big hugs, hosting friends and family who were coming to visit from faraway, and funny (if sometimes corny) jokes that lifted all around him. He treasured his close friendships in the Villages and in Lakewood, especially the people he rode motorcycles with and the folks in the car club.

Dave is survived by his wife, Fran of forty-seven years, as well as sons and daughters David Michael, Daniel, Kristen, Kimberly, Hannah, Marianna, Judy, and nine grandchildren – Matthew, Jenna, Dalton, Trent, Logan, Summer, O'Hara, McKenzie and Emily. He is also survived by his sister Linda and brother Bob, two great-grandchildren, Alina and Delaney, his niece Pam, his nephews Warren and Rob, and his cat Luna.

Dave was preceded in death by his mother Louise and father Berlie.

Dave's family offer special thanks to the doctors and nurses on the third floor at The Villages Regional Hospital for all their special care and kindness given to Dave and his family.

A Celebration of Life is planned in the Spring of 2024. Details of the arrangements are forthcoming.  Arrangements entrusted with BALDWIN BROTHERS Funeral & Cremation Society-Spanish Springs, 352-430-1449.  Sentiments are encouraged at www.baldwincremation.com .