David B. Shires

David Shires, age 88, passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of February 27, 2025, in Montrose, Colorado.

Born in Cape Town, South Africa to parents Ada Maude and William Shires. He is survived by his wife Betty; daughter Susan and husband Craig Bishop, stepdaughters Sharon Porter and husband Bert, Cathy Sommers, and husband Steve, stepson David Porter, and wife Merin. He was known as Pops to his grandchildren William, Megan, David, Sean and his wife Meghan, Curt, and his wife Marinah, Jacob, Maggie, Zeke, and great-grandchildren Arthur and Sutter. Predeceased by his parents, sister Joan Honiball, daughter Jennifer and ex-wife Patrice.

David attended Rondebosch Boys School in Cape Town and was always proud to be one of the “old boys” of the school. He graduated from Medical School in 1960 and proceeded to London, England for a pathology fellowship which he continued at Massachusetts General Hospital and completed at Houston MD Anderson. This is where he was a part of the autopsy medical team for the NASA Apollo 13 space mission. He met and married his first wife, Patrice, at Boston Memorial Hospital. From Texas, he moved to Ontario to work at McMaster University to begin working on Medical Informatics and Family Medicine. He had two daughters: Jennifer and Susan in Ontario. Moving on, he spent most of his career at Dalhousie University working in various capacities including Family Medicine, and teaching. He was also involved with Public Health and International Health working on projects like fresh water and vaccination programs in places as far as Ghana and India. His work allowed him to travel to many places all over the world where he loved meeting new colleagues. After 25 years in Halifax, he moved to Texas, to continue work in Occupational Medicine until he retired in 1997. He met his current wife Betty in Texas.

Travel, gardening, and cooking were some of his big passions outside of his work. David was a very creative person and always liked a new challenge and a new adventure. He was very creative in whatever he did. He loved Mozart and it was not unheard of to find him blaring a piece of music while conducting it with his baton. David traveled the world for work but once he retired, he and his wife Betty traveled Europe and enjoyed cruising. He was known for making a creative mess while making homemade pasta, bread, and sweets. He loved the good things in life and always looked forward to the planting season in spring. The love of orchids and tropical flowers followed him throughout his life from Cape Town to Colorado.

The family would like to express gratitude to the kindness of the staff at HopeWest and Elkridge Nursing Home, as well as all of his caregivers including Bertha Garcia. Please contact the family regarding a Celebration of Life. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to HopeWest Hospice in Montrose, Colorado at 725 S. 4th Street, 81401.