David Foreman's Obituary
FOREMAN – David Gale, 67, died January 13, 2019. Born January 6, 1952 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Gale and Erma Faye (Brasel) Foreman. He attended Whittier Elementary, Cleveland Junior High and graduated from Will Rogers High School in 1970. Dave attended the University of Arkansas receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Social Services in 1975. He then embarked upon his lifelong career of seeking to help others, devoting his skills to supporting several non-profit and human service agencies in Arkansas. This included ACORN, where he worked as a community organizer; the Office of Human Concern where he served senior citizens in the role of Aging Services Director; and the Governor’s Office of Citizen Participation where he sought to encourage volunteerism in the community.He then transferred the skills he had gained in his early career into corporate life. In 1981 he returned to Tulsa, accepting a job at Cities Service Oil and Gas/Occidental Petroleum where he served for 15 years in various progressively responsible training, development and Human Resources management positions. In 1996 David established an organizational development consultancy, Foreman & Associates, Inc. which he operated with his wife and partner, Debra. Together they supported organizations in the private, public and non-profit sectors encompassing both domestic and international assignments.Dave obtained a Master Facilitator certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and held over 50 instructional licenses. He served his profession in leadership roles in the American Society of Training and Development and held several roles on the Boards of local non-profit agencies.Dave had many interests and hobbies including gardening, performing magic, juggling, astronomy, and Native American history and culture; he also greatly enjoyed joining with his classmates in the planning of high school reunions and alumni gatherings. However, the uncontested joy of his life was music. He sang in children’s choirs from age 3 through 6th grade, then in the church youth choir at First Baptist Church in Tulsa through high school and in a collegiate choir, New Creations, at the University of Arkansas. Dave played saxophone in a band, the Electric Review, formed with his friends in junior high school. He served as music minister for a number of small churches in northwest Arkansas. Teaching himself to play guitar in his early teens, over the years he expanded his love of acoustic instruments to include playing banjo, ukulele, dulcimer, harmonica and most recently added the cajone. Playing and singing informally with family and friends was his favorite pastime.He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Debra Leigh (Shewmake) Foreman; daughter Amber Lauren and her husband Matt Gaddis and two grandchildren, Archer Liam and Sawyer Scout of Dallas, TX; sister Diana and her husband J Courson of Magnolia, AR; a niece Jill Mahar of Westlake, OH; a nephew Michael Courson of Alexandria, LA; and maternal uncles, Kenneth Brasel of Missouri City, TX and Robert Brasel of Tulsa, OK.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to:Youth Services of Tulsa-311 S. Madison, Tulsa, OK 74120ORWill Rogers High School Community Foundation-P.O. Box 52845, Tulsa, OK 74120As a further act of kindness in memory of Dave, who died of complications from acute myeloid leukemia, consider donating blood and platelets or to the National Bone Marrow Registry.Please join Debra, Amber and Matt for sharing of memories and lunch at the Family Center immediately following the service.
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