David James Eller was born on March 31,1966, in Cortez, Colorado to Larry and Rosie (Roundtree) Eller. The middle of three boys.
David spent his early years on a farm in Olathe until he left for college. In 1982, he took his first computer class and loved figuring out how to make this machine solve problems and be used for education.
In 1984, he headed to Mesa State College in Grand Junction graduating in May 1986 with an Associates in Computer Science and Applied Math. Thereafter he moved to Oklahoma where he would live for the rest of his life.
On August 4,1985, David started his walk with God and was baptized into The General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn. He found a church, that through the scripture answered a thought that he had wrestled with since he was a little boy. ”There must be more to life.” His walk with God fulfilled the purpose of his life & became his greatest passion.
David first met Wanda on a trip to Oklahoma during his final semester of college. He took note of her and by that summer, they had fallen in love. They were married on June 27, 1987. In 1989, David and Wanda moved to Stillwater where David started working for Frontier Engineering as one of the initial members of their IT department. That same year they were blessed with Jessica and then in 1992 they were blessed again with Emily.
He went to work for Teubner & Associates (later Esker). It was with this job that he traveled to Europe. During this time he found his passion for traveling. In an effort to be with his family more, David went to work for Fire Protection Publications at OSU in 1999. He continued working there for the rest of his career.
David loved spending time with his girls teaching them the Faith, taking them camping at Robbers Cave, & helping them with homeschool & 4-H projects. They made it a family goal to see the contiguous 48 states, and felt blessed to meet that goal in 2013. David and Wanda later achieved their goal of seeing all 50 states when they visited Hawaii and Alaska.
As Jessica & Emily grew up, got married & had families, his joy was increased with the addition of his sons, Robert & David. It was increased even more as grandchildren began to arrive! Some of his best days were filled with working on projects with his sons-in-law and spending time with all 5 of his grandchildren. Their niece Anna, came to live with the family in 2014. David took Anna in as one of his own and was able to do many of the same things with her that he did with Jessica and Emily.
In 1993, David & Wanda along with David & Julie Thompson moved their families to Yale to join Devin & Davena Greenfield as they labored to establish a church there. In the fall of 2007, David was ordained to the office of an elder. David’s service to God impacted the lives of so many people that were blessed to know him.
David felt at home in Yale & had a passion for helping the youth community. He & Wanda were volunteer leaders of Payne County 4-H for over a decade.
In 2004, David continued his education, receiving a Bachelor’s degree and later graduated from Oklahoma State University Summa Cum Laude with a Masters in Telecommunications Management.
David & Wanda’s home was filled with family, brethren, friends and their many “bonus kids”. David was a help and a strength to many and his legacy will live on in the lives of everyone that he touched.
Preceding him in death are his father, Larry Eller, his younger brother Mark Eller, father and mother in law, Floyd and Virginia Teel.
David is survived by his wife Wanda of the home; daughters, Jessica Castor & husband Robert of Yale, OK, and Emily Kirkpatrick & husband David of Moore, OK; niece, Anna Eller of Moore, OK, grandsons, Callen, Barrett & Daniel Castor; and granddaughters, Ellison & Addison Kirkpatrick; mother, Rosie Eller of Cushing, OK; brother, Paul Eller & wife Gwenna of Colorado Springs, CO; sister-in-law, Deanna Lewis and husband Shawn of Blanchard, OK; sister-in-law, Brenda Miller and husband Curtis of Tecumseh, OK; brother-in-law, Larry Teel and wife Anna Marie of Oklahoma City, OK, and numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, and a host of friends and brethren.
