David Alan Gustafson

David Alan Gustafson, 73, of Amston, CT, passed away on December 5, 2018, at the Douglas Manor in Windham, CT. David was born to Edwin A. and Vivian M (Schlee) Gustafson on December 22, 1944, and was raised in Little Falls, MN. David’s family was active in the First Lutheran Church. Interment was on June 12, 2019, at Oakland Cemetery in Little Falls. David grew up living across the street from the Little Falls Golf Course, where he and his parents played golf and David won several trophies in competitions. David attended Little Falls High School, from which he graduated with honors in 1962. While in high school, he also played football and in the summers, played baseball. David completed his first semester of college at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from St. Cloud State College (now University) in 1967. At St. Cloud, he was a member of Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity, and the accounting business club. During the summers of his college years, he performed manual labor, repairing the local railroad tracks, and he worked in the Charles Lindberg State Park in Little Falls. In 1966, he began law school on a regional scholarship at the University of Mississippi School of Law. At Ole Miss, he was selected by the law professors for memberships on the Moot Court Board to mentor other students on their circuit and appellate court cases. He was also a member of a legal fraternity. During the summer of 1969, while he was attending summer school, he met his future wife of 46 years, Frances Sandra Burdison, a second year law student working in the law library. In January of 1970, David graduated from Ole Miss ranked in the top 20% of his class (8th in his class). In 1970, he was admitted to the Mississippi State Bar, and soon thereafter was admitted to, and practiced before, the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of MS, and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of TN. Later in 1970, he started law school at New York University, where he worked for one semester on a Master’s Degree in Labor Law. In 1971, he returned to northern MS to work for North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, and shortly thereafter opened his law office in Southern DeSoto County, where he engaged in the general practice of law. While practicing, he was the attorney for the North Mississippi Board of Realtors and the Pleasant Hill Water Association. From 1972-1983, he was associated in practice with several other attorneys. In 1983, he was offered a management position with a company that served as a third party administrator for other companies to process worker’s compensation claims filed by their employees. David was the manager for the company’s office in Memphis, TN, until 1985, when he was offered a management position with the company involving more responsibility in Hartford, CT. During his years in CT, David worked for several companies from 1985 until his retirement in 2009. He continued to specialize in processing and defending workers compensation cases and frequently appeared at hearings before the worker’s compensation commissioners, defending the companies for which he worked. Prior to 1985, while still living in MS, he was an active member of the Southaven Jaycees and was a Sunday School teacher at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. In CT, he was a past member of the men’s club at Chanticlair Golf Course in Colchester. During his youth, David enjoyed traveling with his parents in Canada and the Midwestern states. Later, he enjoyed traveling with his wife and daughter in the northeastern U.S., Morocco, and many of the Caribbean Islands. He especially enjoyed traveling to many areas of Mexico, where he adored the spirit of hospitality of the Mexican people so much that he began collecting stamps that represented the older historical aspects of Mexico. He and his family traveled frequently to Ixtapa, where they had a time share at the Ixtapa Palace and he enjoyed playing golf. After moving to CT in 1985, David became an avid Boston Red Sox fan and attended many games at Fenway Park. He also followed the Minnesota Vikings and Twins. David and Sandra learned to appreciate “hopping the metro north train into Grand Central Station” to spend two or three days several times a year in Manhattan at the art galleries and museums and attending the Broadway shows. David was preceded in death by his parents, his infant son, Alan, who died in 1982 at 8 months of Krabbe’s disease and his granddaughter, Rose Caroline Sugarman, who died in 2014 at age 6 from a tumor on her brain stem. David is survived by his wife; his daughter and son-in-law; and his grandchildren, Dr. Shannon and Dr. Jeffrey Sugarman, and Ella and Nathaniel, Atlanta, GA. The family thanks Dr. Paul Schwartz, neurosurgeon, and the entire dedicated staff at Hartford Hospital, who cared for him during his many admissions. The family also thanks the caregivers at Salmon Brooks Center, Glastonbury, and Douglas Manor in Windham. Many thanks also for the very professional care he received during his final days in hospice from Masonicare, Wallingford and Mystic, CT. Memorial contributions can be made to the First Lutheran Church in Little Falls, or to any of the facilities that provided excellent care to David during his final days. To send online condolences, please visit www.shelleyfuneralchapels.com, or www.potterfh.com.

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David Alan Gustafson

December 22, 1944 - December 5, 2018