David A. Gartrell

David A. Gartrell Jr., age 34, of Strasburg and formerly of Dennison, returned home to the open arms of his Lord and Savior on Wednesday, June 25, 2008.A son of David A. and Julie (Risley) Gartrell of Dennison, Dave was born on December 5, 1973 in Twin City Hospital at Dennison.Dave was a 1992 graduate of Claymont High School and a 1997 graduate of Ohio Northern University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy.While attending Ohio Northern, Dave met the former Sarah Longstreet and on October 17, 1998, the pair married at Bowling Green, Ohio.Dave was a registered pharmacist and had worked for the past several years with the Meijer Stores of southern Michigan, and more recently for Walgreen’s at Alliance, Ohio.As a sports addict, Dave loved to watch the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Tigers and anything that had to do with college or professional basketball, including the Cleveland Cavaliers. He even opened his home for a weekend long party to watch this past year’s Sweet 16 playoffs.Aside from watching sports, Dave was an avid reader and enjoyed fishing with his family.For the past eighteen months Dave had courageously battled cancer and had made it his mission to share the Gospel with others. He minced no words when it came to his love for the Lord and the amazing love the Lord held for each of us. He frequently announced, “You need to make things in your life right.” His love for God was prevalent in the activities that he involved himself in as a member of Park Christian Church at Dennison. He served as a Sunday school teacher, and a Deacon. It was Dave’s passion for music that led him to serve the Lord through song. He was instrumental in the development of Sunday morning Praise Band, often serving as the worship leader.In addition to his parents and wife, Dave will be forever watching over his beautiful daughters, Elena Grace and Kathryn Anne; a sister and brother-in-law April and Joe Linard of Dover; mother and father-in-law, Sharon and Larry Longstreet of New Philadelphia; a sister-in-law and brother-in-law Lori and Noel Crawford of Bowling Green, Ohio, and two nieces; Daisy Linard and Averie Crawford and a nephew Jett Linard.Dave was preceded in death by both paternal and maternal grandparents, Orlo and Margaret Gartrell and Herbert and Marjorie Risley.The family will receive friends on Friday, June 27, 2008, from 2 â?? 4 and 6 â?? 9 PM in the Geib Funeral Center at Dover. A celebration of Dave’s life will be led by Pastors Scot Caley and David Bryan on Saturday, June 28, 2008, at 11:00 AM in the Geib Funeral Center at Dover with burial to follow in the Dover Burial Park.Immediately following the committal, a celebration luncheon will be held in the Hospitality Room of the Dover Funeral Center.Friends unable to attend are encouraged to share fond memories of Dave by clicking the Memory Tributes link located on this page.Because of Dave’s dedication to his church, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Park Christian Church, 236 Miller Avenue, Dennison, Ohio 44621.During his last personal post on his Carepages.com blog Dave concluded his post as follows:”Last thingâ?¦ In the same manner as the Old Testament peoples offered up lambs to God as sacrifices for their sins, Christ took upon Himself all of our sins and spread His arms wide upon the cross. That will be the first thing I see when my time here is done. I will be welcomed into Christ’s widespread arms in the most loving embrace I will ever know. I pray the same for all of you.”