David Wibben had a magnetic personality. A long-time resident of Kings Park, NY, Dave, as his friends called him, worked for 35 years as a Physical Education teacher and coach at Walnut Street Elementary School in Uniondale, NY. He always left for work early to spend time with the students who attended the school’s breakfast program.
“Every day he would leave me saying ‘I can’t wait to go to work,’ not many people get to say that, so he loved what he did.”
According to his wife Nancy, “Even if you just met Dave, you felt like his best friend.” Dave loved being a father. When they were still young and living at home, he would exclaim the names of his four children, greeting them with exuberance each time they walked through the door.
When he passed away tragically in early 2020, Nancy and their children, now adults, were contacted by a donor coordinator and the family wholeheartedly supported Dave’s wishes to be a donor They took pride in donating his corneas and soon received a letter from The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration informing them that two individuals had received the gift of sight thanks to his generous gift.
“When I think of the recipients of Dave’s corneas, I know they are seeing through the eyes of someone who loved others.”