David J. Wenker

David J. Wenker, formerly of Livermore, died Jan. 20. He was 77.

Wenker, a resident of Navarre, Florida, was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on July 23, 1936. He grew up in Portland, Oregon and became involved in ROTC in high school and made the military his life's work by serving as a B-52 pilot and instructor. After being deployed to Vietnam, he returned to the United States and was assigned to Space Command. He retired as a U.S. Air Force colonel after serving for 32 years. Subsequently, he flew an F-27 for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and retired after 10 years.

Wenker was preceded in death by his wife, Rosemarie Wenker. He is survived by five daughters, Laura Hicks (Charles), Ann Slater (Wayne), Kristin Levert (Keith), Kerry Wenker, and Erin Orren (Jeff) and their mother, Mary Malone. He also has eight grandchildren, Sean, Sarah, Katie, Emily, David, Zoe, McKennis and Connor.

He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, June 27 at a 9 a.m. service.