Foster, David Carey (5/29/2010)

This originally was printed in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.

“Foster, David Carey: Born March 25, 1946, in Minneapolis, died suddenly on Saturday, May 29, 2010, while bicycling with a friend on a scenic highway in Wisconsin. He had a good ride, in life and in death. David was preceded in death by his parents, Wood Robertson Foster and Elizabeth Thrall Foster. While a high school student at St. Paul Academy, David spent his junior year in Davos, Switzerland. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1969, and earned an MA in ecology from the University of Minnesota. In the early ’70s, he became an Environmental Associate with the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College. In 2008, David retired as a longtime environmental analyst for the Minnesota Department of Health. David loved the outdoors, travel, biking, and skiing. This February, he completed his 21st Birkebeiner (cross country ski marathon). For the past 25 years, David and his wife Cynthia have shared their home and the Foster family cabin with friends, family, and international students. They were never far from a globe or an atlas: David loved to read and discuss historical narratives, especially accounts of exploration and discovery, but also biography, architecture, and military history. In addition to his wife Cynthia Michael Foster, David is survived by his son, Andrew W. Foster and Andrew’s mother Mary Durfee; siblings Dutton Foster (Caroline), Wood R. Foster Jr. (Jane Severns), Ned Foster (Laura Tiffany), Lisa B. Foster (Bill Marshall); many loving nieces and nephews; and Cynthia’s Du Toit, Michael, and Beson families. We thank David’s loyal cycling friends, especially Steve Faltesek, who was with David on his last ride. No one had a better friend than David. He will be remembered in Chile, Mexico, China, and Pakistan as a loving host parent; in St. Paul as a member of the Habitat for Humanity St. Paul Regulars; and in his neighborhood as the guy with the hyperactive black Labrador.”