Mike King

David Victor King Obituary

David Victor King, 80, of Lee’s Summit, MO passed away on Aug. 29, 2013. The Memorial Service will be Tuesday night, September 3, 2013, 7:00pm at the Youthfront Auditorium, 4715 Rainbow Blvd, Shawnee Mission, KS, 66205.  A time of visitation will begin at 5:30pm until 6:50pm preceding the Memorial Service.  David was born Dec. 12, 1932 in Osage City, KS to Dave and Elizabeth King. David married Wanda Louise Michael and raised four children.  He retired from Deutz-Allis in 1998 only to begin a new career at Youthfront, fulfilling his passion for youth ministry.  He continued working fulltime to the day of his death. He is survived by his wife and love of his life for 58 years, Wanda; children, Mike King, Tammy Nuckolls, Lea Ann Roach and Tracy Rainey; daughter in law, Vicki King; sons in law, Jamie Roach and David Rainey; siblings, Eddie King, Mary Herzog, Judy Griffin; his beloved 6 grandsons and 6 granddaughters; 3 great granddaughters; numerous nieces and nephews; and innumerable friends and adopted kids and grandkids in the faith.  Dave was hailed by all who know him as a Man of God and a Man of Prayer.  The world groans in his death. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts for Dave King be made to the Youth Ministry Fund at Youthfront. 

Memorial Service for David Victor King

The Memorial Service for David Victor King will be Tuesday night, September 3, 2013, 7:00pm at the Youthfront Auditorium, 4715 Rainbow Blvd., Shawnee Mission, Kansas, 66205. A time of visitation will begin at 5:30pm until 6:50pm preceding the Memorial Service.

Dave King's Death

Early this morning my father took his last breath. 

Last night was a good night.  His hospital room was full of family and friends.  He referred to the gathering as a party and he was in true form, witty, pastoral, and hope-filled.  He was still working, caring and thinking about the Youthfront donors that he ministered to.  He was talking about his grand-kids and plans for the future.  In more quiet moments he worried about slowing the family down because “You all have so much to do.”  He wondered what he needed to do to get better.  He flirted with my mom.  He was happy to see the Royals win their 4^th game in a row.  He wanted to talk about plans for Youthfront’s future.  He expressed gratitude for how his family and friends had faithfully walked with him through these seven weeks.  It was a good, good night.

At 4:00am we gathered around his lifeless body, wept and wrestled with the idea of his death.  At 6:00am, we circled his bed, read a Psalm, and prayed this prayer, "May Dave, our father, husband, grandfather, friend and man of God rest in peace where sorrow and pain are banished, and may the everlasting light of your merciful love shine upon him; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Give us grace so to follow his good example, that with him we may be partakers of your heavenly kingdom.  We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen

We ended with a tearful Amazing Grace.

We know that death is our enemy.  There is nothing romantic about it.  Death is a tragedy.  I Corinthians 15:26 declares “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”  How fitting that this verse is nestled in a chapter about resurrection.  Jesus Christ arose from the dead.  Resurrection is our hope. “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” I Corinthians 15:20.

My father, consistent with his good life, gave us the gift of a good death. 

 

Update On My Father, Dave King

It has been nearly two weeks since my last update on the health status of my father, Dave King.  Two weeks ago we checked him out of the hospital to begin in residence rehab.  The first week there he made amazing progress.  He had his first field trip to Youthfront LaCygne for Great Granddaughter Teagan's 1st Birthday (pictured).  Three nights later he went to Kaufmann Stadium to watch the Royals play the White Sox.  Our friend, Ryan Lefebvre, the voice of the Kansas City Royals invited my dad up to the press box where he does the TV and radio broadcasts.  He got to hangout with Denny Matthews and Rex Hudler.  He was definitely feeling the VIP status.

 

Last Thursday he became very lethargic and went downhill over a two and a half day period.  We took him back to the hospital on Saturday.  His pneumonia was back, along with sepsis, kidney failure, and dehydration. Sunday was a very rough day. My dad has never been much of a singer but for a couple of hours while he was unconscious he sang praises to God, very Psalms like, then he would break out into prayer for family, friends and ministry before returning to song.  We thought he was on his swan song.  But, however, and not yet, by the next morning he was fully alert again and back to where he was a week before.  He's a strong man.  We have some new specialists working with him and continue to hope for his recovery.  He should not be in this situation.  Those who have visited him in the hospital consistently get an experience of blessing and ministry that they will probably never forget.  Yes, this is exhausting emotionally, physically and spiritually.  We have a big family here in Kansas City and it's been amazing to watch so many of his grandchildren step up with care, love and presence during this trial.  Also, my mother has been amazing during this ordeal.  Peace to you and Joy.

“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.” C.S. Lewis

“The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered...We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful.” Elizabeth Edwards 

Update on My Father Dave King

After five long, exhausting and frightening weeks my father was able to leave the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. He was released to begin therapy at The Villages in Independence, MO. We hope this phase will take no more than five to six weeks before he can go home.  He went in for a procedure to fix a hietal hernia.  A procedure that should be a two or three day hospital stay followed by a short recovery period.  We are still befuddled by what happened that led to his life and death month long struggle. We were told over and over again that he had the body of a 60-year-old, not an 80-year-old. Until the day before he went into the hospital he was still working full-time in ministry. Today, it seems like he has aged 15 years.

Tuesday night was his first night staying by himself without a friend or family member.  I was the first to arrive to see him on Wednesday morning.  He was really discouraged, wondering if he would ever get out of this place.  I told him that he had to pretend that he was in training camp like the Chiefs (my dad and I are big sports friends on most of the same teams, except he is alot more fanatical about the KU Jayhawks than I am).  I told him the Chiefs players have to leave their nice homes and stay in a college dorm room in order to work their butts off to be ready for the season. I used his speeches to me when I was a kid about not quitting and giving it my best even though the obstacles appeared to be insurmountable.  I told him the harder he worked on his physical therapy the sooner he could go home.  I also reminded him that his most precious ministry was his life of prayer. I reminded him about the mothers and fathers of the church who spent years in their cells, or caves and other places of solitary where they met Jesus and prayed in the most profound ways.  I think he's embracing that challenge. Continue praying that he will have a good outlook and the strength and resolve to work hard at getting better.

Here's a picture of great-granddaughter Teagan with Great Grandpa.

Today is my Parents 58th Wedding Anniversary

Today is my parents 58th Wedding Anniversary.  Two beautiful people.  Two wonderful parents.  Two awesome grand & great grandparents.  This picture taken three weeks ago.

 

An Update on David King

It's been a couple of days since the last update on my father's condition. The initial procedure he had was to fix a hiatal hernia. He aspirated when he began eating because his digestive system wasn't rebooting. This led to septic shock and the spiral downward. When he restabilized he tried eating again and the same thing began happening all over again except we were able to react quicker to minimize aspiration. The last several days he has improved. The latest test show that his stomach is still not functioning properly so they will be inserting a line through his side to feed him to allow him time to strengthen and time for his stomach to begin functioning. The surgeon just told him he should be able to attend Teagan's (our granddaughter & his great granddaughter) 1st birthday party coming up in two weeks. That made him very happy. In a month or so the medical team will consider the next step to get him back to normal. We're pretty happy about this considering we've given him final goodbyes twice in the last two weeks.

A huge thank you to our friends all over the world who have prayed and encouraged us.

Vicki and I are actually on the Outer Banks of North Carolina right now for an annual gathering of her side of our family. The doctors told us it would be fine for us to go since his recovery will be a marathon, not a sprint and we must pace ourselves.

Update on My Father, David King

I walked into my father's ICU room at 9:00am this morning.  As soon as I entered the room he began to choke and aspirate.  Over the next 30 minutes I worked with the medical staff to try to insure that the fluid coming from his stomach didn't go into his lungs.  For a couple hours he was in serious distress trying to breathe.  His breathing turned shallow and rapid with his oxygen levels dropping quickly.  Jessica, our daughter, who works in ICU reminded me that we had reversed his "Do Not Resuscitate" status when he improved over the previous two days. This action is quite extreme and in his weakened state would be almost totally futile.  We called a family meeting and decided to reinstate DNR.  The medical team agreed and thought we should also consider a "Do Not Intubate" decision.  We asked for consultation from his lead doctor before we would make that decision.

As all the family gathered for the second time in ten days to say goodbye, we circled his bed, prayed, read Psalms, sang the hymn "I Come to the Garden Alone" and I anointed him with oil and asked that God would answer all the good prayers for him from around the world in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  My mom began to whisper in his ear that we all loved him and we understood that if he was too tired he could go and we would see him again on that wonderful day of resurrection.  As she whispered to him, we literally watched his panting for breath at 60+ times per minute slow to 22-24 deeper breaths per minute along with a rise of his oxygen level back over 90.  Over the next two hours he stabilized and the doctor helped us to make the decision to return him to the ventilator if he needed to.  After a couple more hours he improved enough that we did not have to put him back on the ventilator. 

All day friends came by bringing prayers, love, food and hugs.  Tonight, Lexi, our six-year-old granddaughter and one of three great granddaughters finally talked me into showing her grandpa on Facetime because she couldn't go into his ICU room.  She knew grandpa was close to death but she insisted.  I took my phone into his room.  He hadn't been responsive for nearly 20 hours.  As I was showing Lexi grandpa on my iPhone, he opened his eyes.  I said, "Look daddy, Lexi wants to say hi."  "Hi Grandpa."  Big smile, "Hi Lexi."  Lexi, "Love you grandpa."  Grandpa, "Love you Lexi.  Are you still swimming?"  "No, grandpa, I'm finished until the fall but I won two medals."  "Love you, Grandpa."  "Love you Lexi."  "Night, night." 

I walked Lexi to the car to go home and sat outside a bit to enjoy a rare rain shower.  Vicki called from the room, "Where are you?  Your dad wants you to turn on the Royals game, he knows it's time for the game."  The earliest connections I remember with my father were around baseball.  I told him that the Royals have played great since he has gotten sick.  He wondered if he should stay sick a little longer.

In the days and months ahead I have a lot of theological reflection to do about life and death but mostly about prayer.  What is going on when we pray?  What is the intersection between God's action and our action?  My father is known as a Man of Prayer by all who really know him.  I believe with all my heart that prayer is transformational.  My father is a testimony to this, not necessarily by what has happened to him on this day, July 25, 2013 but because of who he is all the time.

This is a prayer one of my friends and youth worker colleague's shared with me today and is also a part of our Youthfront prayer liturgy. 

"Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.  Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake.  In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

And finally, here is the prayer for the completion of this day.  I invite you to pray it with me.

Calm me, O Lord, as You stilled the storm.
Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease.
Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace.

Father, bless the work that is done,
and the work that is to be.

Father, bless the servant that I am,
and the servant that I will be.

Thou Lord and God of power,
shield and sustain me this night.

I will lie down this night with God,
and God will lie down with me;
I will lie down this night with Christ,
and Christ will lie down with me;
I will lie down this night with the Spirit,
and the Spirit will lie down with me;
God and Christ and the Spirit,
be lying down with me.

The peace of God
be over me to shelter me,

under me to uphold me,

about me to protect me,

behind me to direct me,

ever with me to save me.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.



 

Latest Update on David King

In the last 28 hours we have seen an amazing turnaround for my father, Dave King. He's pictured here with our daughter Jessica. He has been removed from the ventilator and maintained strong vital signs throughout yesterday. We had to coach him all day to maintain steady and deep breathing, hard work for him and those of us working with him. Today he was removed from several more tubes and is sitting up, talking and joking. An hour ago they tested his ability to swallow. He passed and just had his first food in nine days. Thank you for prayers, visits and encouragement.

Another Update on Dave King

It has been six days since I returned from New Zealand.  Based on the prognosis it was doubtful that I would make it home to see my father alive.  But he's been fighting hard to live.  The last couple days have been a series of two-steps forward, two-steps back, one half-step forward… we are holding on to hope for a quality recovery.  Finally, the pneumonia is beginning to subside and we will try again today to wean him off the ventilator.  We’ve tried a couple times but he fell short of it being sustainable for him to breathe on his own. 

My mother is doing well and is surrounded by my three sisters Tammy, Lea Ann and Tracy; her sons-in-law Jamie and David; 12 grandkids; three great-grandchildren; around 150 friends and extended family who have come by; plus Vicki and me.  

He has had many times of clarity and full consciousness.  Those who’ve come to visit him, pray with him, talk with him, and even sing to him have inspired and encouraged him.  Several times when someone has said, “I will pray for you,“ he has mouthed, past the tubes, a very discernable, “pray now.”

He wants to get out of bed.  He wants to know what’s happening to him and is often frustrated.  Several doctors have told us that he does not have the body of a normal eighty year old but a much younger body.  This has contributed greatly to his survival. 

The day’s fly by in the hospital and it has been hard to accomplish anything other than managing what’s happening here.  We’ve been amazed and blessed with the messages, emails, texts, stories and calls from people whom my father has pastored, loved, prayed for and ministered to.  They are beautiful testimonies about a life well lived for Jesus.  Thank you all for praying and caring.