{geni:about_me} David was born in Los Angeles, on the tenth of July, 1905. His
parents are Israel Bernard and Vetta Alter, immigrants from Bucharest
Romania. He is their fifth child. His older siblings were Sam, Anna
(died at 14 months), Jacob(Jay), and Alex. After him, his parents had
another girl, Jennie. He is the first of his siblings to be born in Los
Angeles.

David was a very quiet child by nature, and generally followed
directions. HIS sister however, who was a year younger, was a little more
of a trouble-maker, and he followed her lead. When it was time to have
their tonsils out, Jennie went first and was such trouble that by the
time they got to David, the doctors tied him down even though he was
compliant!

David did not have a Bar mitzvah, which is very curious because his
mother Vetta was a religious woman, and his father a founding member of
the congregation Mogen Dovid.

He had to walk both ways to school and carry his own books. He was an
average student or slightly above receiving mostly "B's" and some "C's"
and "A's", David attended Jefferson High School from 1918-1923, taking a
break after the tenth grade. During that year he work for a year at a
fruit canning plant in or around Hemmet, Ca., to help his family
financially. Also as a teen, he went to stay with a cousin in the
Concord area and worked there and the surrounding farms, during various
summers. He had wanted to play the drums, but his parents were unable to
afford the drums or the lessons.

At Jefferson High in Southeast Los Angeles, he did well in his
studies and had a flair for handwriting and Calligraphy. He worked on
the school newspaper, periodicals and the yearbook, and worked in the
student store. He had lots of friends and was social. He did not
however, win any awards at the time. Dave had wanted to be an auto
mechanic when he finished high school but there were no "paying" jobs to
be had, and as he needed to earn money, he turned down the many
apprentice offers he received.

After graduation, he held a few jobs, one of which was in a toy store
downtown where he met Alice Enfield. His parents did not accept her
graciously, due to some facial and extremity disfigurements resulting
from childhood illness. .

Right before his marriage to Alice, he went to live in Yosemite
National Park where he had secured the job of lodge manager through his
brother Jay who had lived there for three years and had helped build the
Awanee Hotel. Jay was one of the first chefs there. Dave worked in the
lodge for two years running the gift shop. He wrote very poetic letters
and prose to Alice very often signing himself "Dovishkenette". He loved
hiking and spent much of his free time hiking through the back country.


After the wedding, in 1929, he took Alice up to Yosemite for his last
year. His wife secured a job as a secretary to the superintendent of the
park. They lived in a small cabin in the old village which was dismantled
in the early 40's. His wife shared his love for Yosemite and very much
liked her work, but being so far away from her family proved to be too
much for her. When he brought his wife back to Los Angeles, he and his
wife bought a liquor store, which was situated under their apartment.
One night David was held up at gunpoint. Alice, hearing unusual
commotion, came downstairs, only to see her husband with a gun pointed at
his head. It caused her a nervous breakdown and she had to be
hospitalized for several months. The doctor suggested that they sell the
store, which they did.

Shortly after that, in 1931 Dave had a burst appendix. The infection
had spread throughout the entire abdomen. The doctors told his wife that
there was nothing that they could do. His only chance was to try to let
the sun burn out the infection. They left him with three gapping holes,
as the preferred medical intervention, to dry up the infection. The wound
would not heal. In addition he came down with TB. It took over five years
to overcome his maladies. Alice had to work since Dave couldn't. They
moved into an apartment a block and a half away from his parents. David
would go up to the roof and spent many hours lying in the sun, trying to
heal. His mother would come every day to care for him, while his wife was
at work. .

After awhile, Dave got back to doing light work. Following the lead of
many extended family members, he applied for a government job. In the
meantime, his father-in-law gave him a job as a baker in his bakery. His
talents were expressed in creating desserts.

After feeling that they were well enough to have a child, Bernad
Robert was born on March 13, 1937. In 1938 David secured a position as a
civil servant, working for the state of California, and maintained this
line of work until he retired. He lived on the east side of Los Angeles,
aside from a year spent in Sacramento. The vacation spot was Yosemite. In
1940 he purchased a parcel of land in East LA and built a home, copying
the architectural plans of a home they had seen. The address was 1892
Marney Ave. It was a two bedroom home with a living room, an open den, a
kitchen, an eating area, and a indoor back porch for a washing machine.
There was also central heating.

On August 7, 1941, Sandra Joan was born. Eight days later Alice's
arm was operated on, to ease the effects of her childhood bout with polio.

Within a couple of years after Sandra's birth it was revealed that
Dave was having an affair with a woman at work and wanted to divorce
Alice. He said she was pretty and he was "proud to be seen with her in
public". He wanted to take Sandra with him and leave Bernie with his
mother because Bernie meant so much to Alice. Alice would not agree to a
divorce and so Dave volunteered for a service leave and went to work for
the Department of War, as a trial separation. He was stationed in Alaska
at a base on Adak Island, and then on Aitu Island, in the Aleutian
Islands chain. He sent mail and money regularly and wrote poetic letters
to Alice. The reason for his absence was kept from his children until
their teen years. What his daughter remembers of the day Alice drove
Dave to the train station, is him vanishing down a tunnel.

When his service was finished, he came back to his home, having
completely given up notions of the other woman. The reunion with his
family, his wife and children, his in-laws and mother, was joyous and
anxiety ridden, as to be expected. It took awhile for all to get back to
normal.

Dave returned to his job as a civil servant, working in the State of
California unemployment office, where he stayed for the rest of his
working days.

The favorite vacation spot continued to be Yosemite(although other
locations were also reached. Dave would take his two children on many
hikes. They would frequent the tops of Yosemite, Vernal and Nevada Falls,
and he would tell them stories about his life in Yosemite. He took them
to the museum and post office and main buildings where he had worked and
visited. He was a supportive dad during those vacations, staying at the
inexpensive places, but having fun.

At home though, he was not such a "hands on" father. Although he
expected his children to preform well in school, he really didn't help
much with homework or projects - it was all up to the kids to get their
things in on time and done well. Dave did not think that a "C" grade was
OK. Although his children were involved in many extra curicular
activities, he rarely showed up to watch them play or preform.

In 1946, Alice became a secretary in a Jewish after school program
which introduced her to many organizations in which she became involved.
Dave however, only became involved with the social events of the Shule.
Within the Couples Club of the American Jewish Congress, he was witty,
social, self confident, and active. He enjoyed himself and had some
friendships outside of work. His closest friend was Max Ross whom he
knew from work.

For one Purim, he dressed up as Father Time with a sheet wrapped
around him with much flesh showing! He had fun with it. They spent most
New Years Eves with the Shule extended family and the kids were included
too. He enjoyed watching sports on his Hoffman Easy Vision television
with wrestling and Roller Derby being his favorites. He even took his
son and daughter, separately, to football games where they sat on the 50
yard line of a Rams home game in a box which belonged to someone he met
through work. He took her to see Roller Derby games many times.

There were family events with all the Ginsburg cousins, the extended
Alter family picnics with over 200 people, Enfield eating events at the
beach, and Alhambra Synagogue Center, where Alice was Principal of the
Religious School. Summer had picnics at Alhambra Park and swimming.
Because of Dave's humongous scar from his early years, he never went into
a swimming pool. He did however, go into the ocean at Ocean Park, in
Venice, CA. where his in-laws lived. He taught his children to swim and
go beyond the breakers.

In 1957, Dave and Alice had saved enough money to move from East LA
where the school was becoming increasingly more Hispanic/Chicano. They
moved to the Fairfax area where many Jewish families had moved. Their
new house, at 728 S. Spaulding Ave. had three bedrooms, a large living
room, dining room, kitchen and eating area and two bathrooms. It was
across the street from the La Brea Tar Pits and eventually the LA Art
Museum. It was a duplex, so they received rent from the tenants upstairs.

His son graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, East Los
Angeles Junior College, and UCLA, and his daughter graduated from Fairfax
High-school, and Los Angeles State College.

In 1959 Dave suffered a severe heart attack. His son, his
daughter-in-law Ellen, and first grandchild (and only grandson), Yankel,
had moved to Cincinnati. His daughter was on a Jewish Exchange Program in
Israel. This was to be the first of seven heart attacks during the next
thirteen years. He could no longer work so he began selling insurance
from the house and did that until his death in 1972.

He tried to travel, even going across country to New York, Cincinnati
by train, and by bus to Quebec, and even visited his son and family in
Israel once. After a while, it became difficult for him to travel
without landing in the hospital. He enjoyed his grandchildren very much
and loved to watch them. When his son moved to Israel it became
difficult for him because they were all so far away. He wasn't used to
his family being so far away.

He had very little strength and sat a lot. He Ioved anyone who would
play cards with him. He didn't complain or confide in his children so
they do not know his inner thoughts. He tried to do well for his family
and wanted to help them if they needed it, but he would never have asked
them to change their plans for him. He did not want to be a burden on
anybody.

He told his children that the best thing that they could do in life
is to leave the Earth a little better than they found it. He also would
say to make sure that you get value for your money.

David Ginsburg died in Los Angeles on August 7, 1972, the 27th of the
month of Menachem Ov. He is interred in the Hillside Memorial Park in
Culver City, California.