David “Dave” Duane Conover was born in Mexico, Missouri on July 7, 1948 and passed away at the age of 75 in St. Louis on April 21 after a long battle with bone marrow cancer. Dave’s parents, Charles W. Conover and Esther Rose Conover (Deichman), proceeded him in death. He is survived by wife, Mignon Murphy and her son, Andrew Murphy Lamont wife Bridgette Bridges and family and granddaughter Violet Lamont; his daughter Alyssa Visconti, husband Nick and granddaughter Sophia Cacioppo; step children Chad, Angela and Andrea and their families; brother Charles W. Conover, wife Nancy and nephews Andrew and Matthew and families; brother Arthur L. Conover, wife Karen and nephews Brian and Brandon and their families.
Dave grew up in Wellsville, Missouri, living with his parents the first 18 years of life. He proudly enlisted in the United States Navy in December, 1967. After being promoted three times, he was discharged as a 2nd Class Radarman Petty Officer in October, 1971. Most of his time in the Navy was spent on the U.S.S. Biddle ship and among other places, he sailed to the duty station off the Vietnam coast in 1969 and also passed through the Panama Canal. He visited several countries and had many memorable experiences during his service.
After returning to Missouri, he obtained his B.S. degree at Tarkio College in Criminal Justice Management & Institutional Security.
25 years ago, Dave and Mignon were married on the beautiful island of Barbados, West Indies accompanied by son Andy and daughter Alyssa. They enjoyed their many years together as co-workers, friends, travelers and pup parents to Morgan and Lily.
After 43 years, Dave retired in 2015 as Director of Telecommunications at Mercy Health System St. Louis where he managed departments and systems in four states. He loved traveling to the hospitals meeting with his employees, listening to their concerns in the office and many times after work over a couple beers. He was very proud of his accomplishments but more importantly, of his dedicated staff, many of whom remained his friends.
Dave began working part time at the Ballwin Golf Course in 2015 and continued for nine years. Highlights included hitting a hole in one during a game with friends, enjoying the many staff and golfers he grew to know and taking out of state golf trips. Golf was the hobby he loved and he took pride in his excellent golf cart driving abilities.
As a boy, he liked playing baseball and basketball. As an adult, he enjoyed creating stained glass, painting, fishing, making repairs around the house and yard (a skill taught to him by his Dad) and spending time with his family and friends. Other activities often included hanging out with best friend, Glen, and watching Seinfeld reruns.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Missouri Wildlife Rescue Center in Ballwin, MO.
SERVICES: Visitation with the family will be held at Kutis Affton Chapel (10151 Gravois Rd., St. Louis 63123) on Sunday, April 28 from 3-6pm.
The funeral service will begin the following day Monday, April 29 at 12:30pm in the same location.
Private graveside service with military honors will be held at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery for immediate family.
Dave so glad to have known you. May you rest in peace and free of all the pain you endured. You are very loved and will be missed by all.
Here’s to a life well lived! We were proud to call Dave a friend and enjoyed fishing with him in Canada. Always in good humor and quick witted. Loved to laugh. Thanks, Dave for your friendship. Save a place for us on the other side. Love and prayers for your family as they adjust to their new and different life.
I really enjoyed working for Dave. He was a great guy and a good friend. He will be greatly missed.
Thank you Dave for being a wonderful boss, thoughtful mentor and most of all – a great friend. I will really miss catching up with you and will cherish the beautiful stained glass creations you made. You will not be forgotten.
Its hard to put into words how a mans life affected the world and even more importantly the people around him. Clearly he lived his life to the fullest and lived a life full of joy and interesting experiences. With that being said its more of a celebration of his life rather than sadness over his loss.
My brother-in-law Dave was always there to…
Welcome our baby girl from Belarus in the St. Louis airport in October 1995.
Come over to hang our pictures on the wall when we wanted them higher than we could reach.
Come over to save us when our teenager freaked out and we called you to come help get the baby mice out of the lawn mover.
Share our holidays, birthdays, spring, summer, fall, and winter.
We love you and will miss your smile, help and presence in our lives!
It was an honor to think of Dave as a friend. I came to know him during his time at the Ballwin Golf Course where he helped keep a group 50-70 lady golfers on track every Monday morning April thru October. He had a great sense of humor and was so easy to talk to. Please know that me and my fellow Monday Ladies have thought of him often and will miss him.
I’m one of those Monday morning golf ladies at Ballwin and I have to say, Dave ALWAYS had a smile on his face, even when he was going through treatment. He loved helping the members any way he could. We knew his health was failing, but never stopped asking for him. Rest In Peace Dave.
For 25 years, Dave lived across the street from me. He was always friendly, easy to talk to, respectful, a gentle spirit and faithful husband to Mignon. He will be dearly missed
Donna
I grew up with Dave in. Wellsville, Missouri . We graduated in 1966 and I left to go to college in California. He was a great boy, teenager and man. We had a great life in H.S. in a small town! I will always remember him with fondness. My sincere condolences, prayers and blessings to his family. Patty McCarthy 🙏
The Wildlife Rescue Center family knew Dave through his wonderful wife, and long-time Center volunteer, Mignon. We are fortunate to have you both as part of our wildlife family. We love you and are always her for you. Sending strength and healing.
Dave was a great guy to work with and a person you could trust do anything for you! Glad I got to know him!
Condolences to Mignon, his daughter and all the family. I was honored to have known Dave for 40 + years working with him at St. John’s/Mercy. I was more blessed to have been able to call him friend and enjoy his company on the golf course. I’ll miss him every day. RIP Dave
We are all going to miss Dave’s smile, his laughter, his wit, his caring spirit. But these things have now become part of us, thanks to knowing and loving Dave. His spirit will live on within us all. He taught us all how to have FUN.