09/25/2025
This is a long post, and is in no way directed to the many people who have shared their appreciation and stories of Dave. They will always be appreciated, I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to get to all of them. But the note below might explain why.
I thought I had written my last post for Historical Niagara. My plan was to get any pertinent information out there in respect for Dave and this community he built. Now, I thought…I can get other things done, like banking, lawyers, and perhaps even something for our own lives which has been put on hold for five years. But mostly I just wanted to grieve my husband in peace.
Ha! I now realize how naive I’ve been. Less than 9 hours after my son and I had been giving Dave CPR, followed the ambulance to the hospital, and were given the news that there was no reviving him, I started receiving phone calls and messages about Historical Niagara, what Dave would have wanted, and it has continued since then. Even though I just wanted to crumble after my husband of 33 years left me, I still made calls to people here so they wouldn’t hear the news on social media, and eventually made a post on this page because his phone kept pinging, and I thought if I put a post up the pinging and ringing would stop. But they didn’t and I eventually just turned the phone off and threw it in a corner…missing some calls I shouldn’t have. But I understand that everyone grieves differently and death is difficult to talk about, so I remained quiet.
However, I am thinking about the complete guide on how to treat someone who has just lost their husband.
In full disclosure, I had asked Dave a while back, what he wanted me to do with the page, and artifacts, and his answer was “I don’t care. I’ll be dead. Do what you want.” So, this is what I want.
I want to leave Historical Niagara as a memorial page.
It was Dave’s baby, created by years of social media experience, visiting countless historical events and places with our own children, twelve hour days on the phone…answering every question, liking every post, and making sure that scammers and political opinions were kept at bay. He wanted the page to be about the truth, and networked with many people you’ve never even seen on Facebook. He wanted to inspire young people to do so as well. But most importantly, he knew when to block people…even when they were friends or people some might consider important. He wasn’t afraid to debate vigorously, and didn’t take any guff. And he did all this without being paid and choosing not to utilize advertising for profit. I don’t know anyone else who could or would do this. And if they can’t do it the way Dave would, I don’t want Dave’s work to be covered up by posts that he would not have approved of. In a little bit, I will take this post down.
Often, when people complained about him not allowing independent posts on his site, he would say…”If they don’t like it, they can start their own historical page.” And if he truly wanted someone else to take over, he would have made them an administrator. But he didn’t.
So, this is what is happening with the page.
Next, what is happening with the artifacts?
Okay, I have been getting emails and messages about what is happening with the artifacts. Which is completely understandable, but, once again, overwhelming,
It has come to my attention that people see the artifacts as being sorted perfectly, with a logged book of numbers and identifications…as it would have been in a museum. But these have not been museum pieces for a long time. They have been traveling artifacts. And in the name of full disclosure, and my own sanity because it has become apparent that people may think that I have no interest in history or even Dave at times, due to the fact I avoid photo ops. I am going to share some photos of the artifacts and how I have been left them. Photos are below.
These are just some of the piles I need to contend with. And in his defense, Dave was very ill, clinically blind at some points, and we had limited space to work with due to also having the dialyzer in house, boxes of medical supplies, and his other collections. And the this collection came to him, stored in boxes with stickers and cards etc., to be sorted through. But most importantly, this man had a memory when it came to numbers and details that was amazing, so much of the info was stored there.
I am going to go through things, find any documentation, remove his own things, and pack it all up. But this is going to take time. Time I do not have at the moment. So I’m going to say I’m looking at February 1st, at the least, before it’s ready to go.
However, if I may make a point here, artifacts can be kept perfectly or they can be taken out for the world to see and touch. It’s the seeing and touching that made Dave’s presentations so valuable. The majority of artifacts were given to him, because people knew they could trust him to do that. I would like the receiver of these things to keep that responsibility in mind. Are you ready to give up your weekends, time with your family, forgo summer vacations because that’s the biggest time of year for festivals, leave other hobbies behind, and take time from work? It doesn’t matter if you’re part of a society, educated in history, or think they’re cool. Are you willing to put in the work and sacrifice this would take?
Anyway, if you are interested…message me in February.
Recently, I have heard a voice in my head saying, “It’s time to draw a line and get some rest,” and it’s a very familiar voice. So I’m listening to it.
I have a few emails and messages to answer that came through before this writing, concerning these matters, and then I’m simply going to direct senders to this post. Of course, if you want to give me a heads up about the CoL or you want to offer a contribution to the table, please do.
And please don’t offer me help with the sorting. I know what I need to do, and I want to (or perhaps need to) do it. I just need time.
Thank you, for your grace.
Vicky - hopefully for the last time. Not that you all haven’t been lovely, but this is Dave’s page not mine and as always I'm respecting that.
