Born June 5, 1967, to Daveda (Hendry) and Richard Bundy in Elkhart, Ind., Dave grew up in Indiana, Glasgow, Mo., the Kansas City area and in Michigan for one night in the back of a pizza truck in a near-kidnapping event. All things considered, Dave was remarkably well-adjusted and graduated from Grinnell College in 1989 with a degree in history. He worked as a journalist in Ashland, Ohio; Ottumwa, Iowa; Decatur, Ill.; Bismarck, N.D.; and the St. Louis, Mo., area before settling in Lincoln, where he was the editor of the Lincoln Journal Star for the past 13 years. “History is just old journalism,” he often told people.
It was in the romantic hotspot of the Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune newsroom that he met Allison Hawes. They married March 22, 1996, in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have four children: Dalton, Genevieve, Jacob and Samuel. Being a dad was one of Dave’s favorite things. He loved introducing his kids to music and superior snacking and watching their musical performances and baseball games. He honed the peacemaking skills of a seasoned diplomat in his home and documented the highs, lows and creamy middles of parenting in his occasional columns for the newspaper.
That diplomacy came in handy as Dave worked with readers. He believed that free speech and civil dialog could co-exist and worked with letter writers and local columnists to present their views in the best way.
Dave loved power pop music and amassed a digital music library tens of thousands of hours long. It was so large, that he didn’t always notice the Broadway show tunes (not his favorite genre) his daughter added to his playlists. He loved discovering new artists and forged email friendships with several.
Dave noticed the good in people and believed in quickly saying thank you. He served in his church congregation with the youth and as a Sunday School teacher and most recently in producing the Sunday bulletin. His unofficial job at church, though, was handing out stickers to some of the youngest members of the congregation to help them — and him—stay quiet during services.
He is survived by his wife, Allison, son Dalton, both of Lincoln; daughter Genevieve of Austin, Minn.; sons Jacob and Samuel, both of Provo, Utah; and his mother, Daveda Bundy, and sister Kathy Smith, both of Pickerington, Ohio.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. March 8 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3000 Old Cheney Road, Lincoln.
Memorials to the family for future designation.