In Memory of David Halter
By Rose O’Keefe
At the memorial service for David “Dave” Halter (1935 – 2018) on March 4th at Calvary St. Andrew’s Church, everyone who spoke seemed to share a side of Dave that others didn’t know. One woman knew Dave as a boy growing up with his brother Jack, in their parent’s home on Mount Vernon Avenue, and remembered his mother very fondly. His parents were the late Peter and Margaretta (Peg) Halter.
Dave went to 13 School on Gregory Street, 24 School on Linden Street and Monroe High School. He and his family were very active in Calvary Church on South Avenue at Hamilton Street, which disbanded in the late sixties. He remembered hearing President Roosevelt declare war on Dec. 7, 1941.
A highlight of his childhood was winning the Soapbox Derby along Lakeshore Boulevard at age 15 in 1950, on his fourth attempt. He graduated from University of Buffalo, and served in the Naval Air Force, {unless your research shows otherwise.} with an honorable discharge. He ran for public office several times.
After working with his equally strong-minded dad in the family business, PJ Halter Incorporated, Dave formed his own company, Epsilon Construction, doing amazing renovations and unique additions. One person spoke of his taking ten years to restore her beloved grand oldie and bringing it back to life. His “Good Man Friday” and loyal friend Steve Lyons shared memories of working with and learning from Dave for many years.
In the late sixties, he joined the Canterbury-Harvard Neighborhood Association and was its treasurer for about seven years. He was also treasurer of Ellwanger Barry NA and in the early nineties joined the Sector Six committee to determine what the neighborhood south of 490 and Field Street to the Genesee River needed.
Dave was a true renaissance man. He valued physical fitness, running track in high school and marathons including the Boston and New York Marathons. A good friend remembered playing volley ball with him for 25 years. He built hydrofoil boats and sailed on Lake Ontario. He was a silversmith who created modern jewelry that was ahead of its time. He was also a ceramic artist and created and restored stained glass windows. He was a skilled woodworker who treasured historical artifacts and could restore them to their former glory.
Dave was a vocal community activist. A neighbor recalled battles he fought included opposing Rite Aid from moving into the neighborhood twice – once into the Abeles Building at the corner of South and Gregory and again into the space where Highland Park Market now stands at the corner of South and Linden.
In the nineties he was a member of the Southeast Landlords Council that brought together landlords, owners, the neighborhood conservation office, Rochester Police Department, mediation and environmental services. The group shut down drug houses around Meigs and Pearl Street.
At the time of an interview in The Wedge newspaper in July 1997, he’d been a member of SWPC’s housing committee and had become its chair that spring. He owned several buildings where he stored all kinds of oddities, just in case. He sold most of them off in recent years.
One friend visited him regularly when he was hospitalized, and he in turn visited her daily when she was. After health setbacks that would have caused others to call it quits, Dave got around in his motorized wheelchair for years. He attended neighborhood meetings where he shared his strong opinions – each one of them earned by having worked on that problem decades ago.
Dave lived on Caroline Street for thirty years or so. He was the father of two daughters and was so proud they both inherited his creativity and went to Rochester Institute of Technology. Lisa also inherited his real estate gene and is the principal broker and owner of Halter Associates Realty in the Hudson Valley; and Kira, an interior designer, who took up running marathons, lives in Altadena, California.
For myself, I am grateful for books he gave me, particularly a copy of The Shopkeeper’s Millennial which he thought I would appreciate and which I truly enjoyed.