David Wayne Wiley PLS 2612

June 25, 1962 – April 7th, 2025

Little Deer Who Runs Swift and Sure Footed Through the Forest

Born of Scotch Irish descent on June 25, 1962, young Master Wiley was good at taking a story and spinning a good yarn. Life was an adventure for him and nothing would hold him back from having a good time and enjoying the ride. Sadly, David heard the words “Well done my good and faithful servant” on April 7^th, 2025.

David, like many of his generation, grew up wanting to do one thing with his life and had life circumstances change his trajectory, sending him into the Surveying Profession. If there was one thing David was good at it was getting up when life knocked him down. In this way you could consider him a phoenix rising from the ashes repeatedly because the person who learns how to get up after being knocked down the fastest wins in the game of life.

It is this memory that I will hold on to the tightest, as in his youth at about age 12 or 13 he was (like me) brought to the field to learn the craft of surveying. While I was commended to stand in the back holding a plumb over that point whenever somebody hollered in my direction David was free to wander up and down the line, being the fourth person on the crew. The trick for him was paying attention to the small stobs left when a tree is cut off. He was forever tripping and stumbling over them. Roger Beckerman “Duke” was always chiding him over his careless walking, stumbling, falling, and then getting right back up. You are no “Little Deer Running Swift and Sure Footed in the Forest” he said, David liked the idea of Little Deer but never seemed to catch the sarcasm of Duke’s statements, until he was asked to return to the truck (at that time the family sedan) and retrieve a folder or some other thing we thought we needed. David with a “you bet” comment spun on his heel and began to take off at a dead run, sadly his turn did not point him back down the line but right into a brush pile, which we had to help extract him from. With this move he solidified his nickname in my mind.

To his credit and in my mind, David became a good surveyor, he always put the location of the line above the interest of the parties and did not set markers based on anything but the evidence. He tirelessly tried to follow the standards and practices that we the Surveying Profession have established. While this is a tribute to his work it is not the love and passion of his life. That Spot is held by his Wife Keena, his three children and five grandchildren. To them he was devoted and to them he gave his heart.

David is gone too soon and had so much he wanted to give. While he was my phoenix always rising up from whatever life had thrown at him there is no ignoring the call of the Lord. May he be at peace.

By Mark Wiley

Professional Land Surveyor

MO 2437 – IL 3713