David Wayne Mitcham

David Wayne Mitcham of Greensboro, North Carolina, died Tuesday, March 17th, 2020.  He was born in 1946 in Cramerton, NC to Lloyd and Oveda Mitcham.  Brother to eight siblings, he began work from a young age at textile mills where his father worked in King’s Mountain and Lincolnton.  He was deeply supportive of his family through these early years and throughout his life.  He enrolled in the Army after high school and served in South Korea as a sergeant, teaching land surveying during the Korean War.  Upon completing his service, he studied civil engineering at the University of Charlotte, North Carolina, where he met his future wife Judy Ruth Swords.  They settled in Greensboro, sharing 46 years of marriage.  David was Department Head of the Civil Engineering and Surveying Programs at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, NC from 1975-1986, and then founded his own civil engineering and land surveying company, Mitcham & Associates.  He worked on many developments around the Piedmont Triad, including the Koury Corporation Golf Club and Resort.

David served on the planning board at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant advising for grounds.  He was extremely interested in intentional communities and finding ways to build environments for the aging population where they could live as a greater family with dignity.  In the time of his passing, he was developing homes for veterans with one of his business partners.

David loved spending time with his family, including his grandchildren Neiko and Savannah.  He loved all social events, coffee (although he slowed his consumption in later years), making homemade ice cream in the summers, the beach, and traveling to see his son’s and daughter’s young families of their own in New York and South Carolina. 

David had an endearing propensity to laugh so hard that he would cry.  He was a dreamer who was simultaneously grounded in reality.  He loved to meet new people and see new things.  He was determined to meet five new people every day that he went out into the world, to speak to them and get to know them.  It was a testament to how closely he was invested in people and humanity.

He will be so missed by members of his family and by members of the community as a pillar of strength, love and support.

He is survived by his wife Judy, his daughter Laura Bradshaw, her husband Bart Bradshaw and their daughter Savannah, his son Jason Mitcham, his wife Erika Mahr and their son Neiko, his sisters and brothers, Patsy Wright, Anne Fisher, Bill Mitcham, Rodger Mitcham, and Janice Bentley.  He is proceeded in death by his parents Lloyd Mitchem and Sarah Oveda Mitchem, his sister Judy Mitchem, his sister Betty Abernathy, and his brother Harold Mitcham.

A celebration of David and his life will be done at a later date, yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Non Profit Family Services for Sustainable Living, Care of Phil Hedrick, 1506 Trent Blvd Newborne NC 28560.

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