Birth date: Aug 1, 1964 Death date: Nov 27, 2024
David Ponke, age 60, of Algonac, passed away November 27, 2024. David was born August 1, 1964 in Detroit to Leroy and Carol. David was a dispatcher for St. Clair County for 25 years. David also spent a number of years as an on cal Read Obituary
Love you bro! Miss you Already!
Here are a few pictures from Dave’s celebration of life. If you scroll in, you can see many from when he was a fireman at Clay Township.
I'm sharing another chapter of Dave's life, his service as a 911 Dispatcher.
First for Clay Township, and then for St. Clair County and the sheriff department for 25 years.
Dave won many awards and plaque's, and he was on an episode of 911 because of his work when the Capac chief was under fire, and for that he also got awards from Lansing. But for Dave, this was just another day.
So many people, firemen, police, chiefs, deputies and the main sheriff himself told us Dave was the best. So cool, and calm under pressure. His demeanor was known, welcoming to hear they said when they heard his voice to start their shift! Dave made them felt secure and he had their backs.
So please know that this special guy started this about 50 years ago. Its 1975-76 and we lived on the eastside of Detroit and Dave listens to our Grandparents scanner daily. Soon Dave is making his own cassette tapes of 911 calls, make believe from our streets of Ashland, Alter, Warren and others. Who would have thought that years later you would include All the roads of St Clair County!. God had the plan that you could do it,
and we Thank You Dave.
Our brother Dave was a great writer, and so many would tell us still today that they loved his articles in the local Courier Journal. Sports was always a big part of his life, and then Dave shared with us this gift of creative writing, by covering the our local teams. Dave knew it meant alot to the kids and parents for a mentioning. So making a simple score an exciting read, Dave made sure to get as many names from coaches as he could, with the info and a good pic. Looking back, his writing was another service that Dave did, not for pay but for others. He always tried to write the best story about our local kids, and Dave loved letting us know it...
It's worth mentioning I was with him when he interviewed Mark "the Bird" Fidrych on a chance encounter outside the ballpark. They talked for 15 min, Dave got the inside scoop on did the Bird really talk to the ball? Or himself?
Others he interviewed included Bo, Sparky, Ernie, Cecil, Dave Bergman, he caught Ricky Henderson, Jose Cansco, Wade Boggs and other Sox, A's and Tigers. You see not everyone knew of his writing past and adventures, as that was special to Dave. Because he was.
Driving to Niagara Falls(can’t remember her name) and Larry and myself, after graduating. I’m gonna say you had a black and red Camero and we drove to New York to check it out. Maybe we tried to purchase beer, idk but I do recall Larry burning his hand on the electric stove once we got back to the hotel. RIP my friend, your friend Stacy
