You may be unaware of the extensive impact quiet, reserved and reticent David Gipe had on our community. He wanted it that way. If you swim or your children enjoy a splash pad at a neighborhood association, country club or hotel pool, the YM/YWCA, or a private swim club, there’s a good chance Dave made them safer for you by certifying they met state and county regulations. He came to pool design by chance late in his civil engineering career but fully embraced it, becoming a de facto expert, sometimes understanding the regulations more than the regulators themselves. Detail oriented, analytical and thorough he was the professional engineering guy behind the scene ensuring city and county services were efficient and safe for you and the environment: he worked in solid waste (your trash), waste water treatment (your toilet and sewer), water reclamation and remediation (your soil and groundwater contaminated by industrial waste and chemical spill offs) and lastly pool design (your pleasure made safer). He left his mark literally at Charlotte Catholic High School, lining the field for football and soccer games, continuing years after his sons graduated. He designed a water drainage system to ensure the field was more playable and was the expert at finding the “corners” of the practice and main fields at season beginning to guarantee regulation size and perfect lineage. Dave served as the 1986 Blue Charlotte Soccer Club team treasurer for 8 years, a necessary but thankless job that required “high finance” and tact. He was all about his job, his kids, his grand-kids and grand-dogs, finding joy in the mundane routines of daily life. He loved a good looking lawn, a great burger, a competitive soccer or football game, family beach vacations and watching NCIS. Although neither spiritual nor a member of formalized religion, he was a daily practitioner of Christianity, exhibiting kindness, generosity, loyalty, forgiveness, steadfastness and love in all he did. In this attention seeking, performative world, he was remarkable for being unremarkable. Never to pursue fame, fortune or recognition, he was the guy behind the scenes making the world go round for the rest of us. Book smart and intelligent, his genius was the practical. We honor him for the contributions those that knew and loved him well saw and felt. We honor him for the differences in the world he made that continue to go unnoticed and unappreciated. He wanted it that way. David is survived by his wife, Candace, his sons Christopher (Amanda Bose) and Matthew (Abby), twin grandsons Hayes and Graham (and soon to be born, Cameron), and 3 grand dogs.