David Norman Ream

David Norman Ream

July 01, 1944 - December 26, 2020
Coto de Caza California

David Norman Ream

July 01, 1944 - December 26, 2020
Coto de Caza California

Obituary

David Norman Ream
July 1, 1944 – December 26, 2020

David Norman Ream was born on July 1, 1944 in Long Beach, California and passed away on December 26, 2020 in Laguna Hills, California at the age of76.

Dave was the second child born to Jesse Maurice Ream and Pearl Elizabeth Ream.  Their daughter Kathleen was two years old at the time of Dave’s birth.  Tragically, in 1950, Dave’s father Jesse was killed in the line of duty as a police officer.  Dave’s mother was forever grateful to the Long Beach Police Officers Association for all the immediate help that they gave to the family, including building them a house.  As an adult, Dave was able to attend the yearly memorial that was held in Sacramento to honor police officers who had fallen in the line of duty.  He was very moved when they announced his father’s name.

Dave attended Long Beach schools and graduated from Poly High School in 1962.  He graduated from Arizona State University in 1967 with a degree in Business Administration. While attending Arizona State he became a devoted “Sun Devil” and formed close friendships as an SAE fraternity member. These close friendships exist until this day.  Dave taught in Long Beach schools for awhile, spent some time living in the Virgin Islands and eventually earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Long Beach State in 1970.

After college, he worked for Safeco Insurance Co in Los Angeles.  In 1971, Dave found his true calling and began working in city government.  He worked as an assistant in the Long Beach City Manager’s office.  Next, he worked for the City of Lakewood for four years as a management assistant.  Finally, in 1978 he began a job for the City of Santa Ana– a city he would work in for the next 33 years.

In 1972, Dave met his future wife, Diane, through mutual friends in Laguna Beach.  On July 14, 1973 they were married in Belmont Shore.  They had three children:  Amanda in 1975, Timothy in 1978, and Courtney in 1983.

After 1978, Dave was to spend his entire career working in Santa Ana. His initial position in Santa Ana was as a financial analyst, followed by Redevelopment Director and finally in 1986, City Manager.  Dave became the City Manager of Santa Ana at 41 and remained in that position until 2011. He had the honor of leading the city for 25 years.

There were many singular accomplishments during his tenure as City Manager, but the one he was the most proud of was the widening of Bristol Street. It has been widened from 4 to 6 lanes and now has pedestrian parkways flanking each side and medians containing large rows of tall palms. “Our goal was to make it into the best street in the county of Orange and I think we succeeded,” Dave was fond of saying.

In addition to the beautification of Bristol Street, there are many tangible examples of Dave’s tenure as City Manager.  In downtown Santa Ana the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse was built, as well as the Discovery Science Center.  An Artists’ Village was created.  The old Fashion Square was redeveloped into the Main Place Mall.  The Bowers Museum was expanded and the Amazon’s Edge was added to the Santa Ana Zoo. The new showpiece Santa Ana Police building was built and the new City Yard.   A new Auto Mall was created and expanded. Dave’s leadership was instrumental in creating a Redevelopment partnership with the Santa Ana Unified School District leading to the construction of 15 new schools in 15 years.

His commitment to the children of Santa Ana was manifested in many ways.  In conjunction with other civic leaders he established the Education First/Santa Ana 2000 Initiative which created an interagency coalition of business people, government agencies, civic groups, and the SAUSD in 1989.  The purpose of this coalition was to prepare Santa Ana students for the modern workforce.  He also championed the building of a number of parks and sports facilities including Eldridge Park, Saddleback View Park and Dan Young Soccer Field. Throughout his tenure as City Manager, he also served on the board of the Boys and Girls Club and devoted many hours to their fundraising activities, even in his retirement.  He looked forward each year to the Student Government Day which had a direct impact on students.  Another community development that he supported was the Delhi Center.  At their 50th anniversary celebration, many community members noted how Dave always supported their programs and attended meetings and events and stayed until the end.  Dave was not a public official to just make an appearance–he would return your phone calls and make things happen.

Dave was also dedicated to supporting the professional growth and development of the employees who worked for the city of Santa Ana.  He changed the organizational culture to one devoted to quality customer service, before the concept was popular in public sector agencies.  He created a public business academy that helped educate the employees in the new philosophy.  He also made sure employees were recognized for their contributions towards getting the work of the city accomplished.  He supported a number of annual employee events and sent each employee a personalized card on their birthday.  At Dave’s retirement many employees at various levels of the organization expressed a similar sentiment.  To paraphrase : “Dave called me into his office, told me what he admired about my work, promoted me and basically believed in me before I believed in me.”  Many believed that Dave’s greatest career accomplishments were not roads and buildings but his relationships with people.

It wasn’t all work and no play in Dave’s life.  Dave had a lifelong love of traveling which was evident in his early bachelor days when he lived for a time in the Virgin Islands, traveled extensively in Europe, Pakistan, India and even briefly in Afghanistan. With his wife and children he traveled in his RV to numerous national parks and completed three trips across the United States. The Ream children claim they don’t remember a single holiday that was celebrated without going on a trip.  All three are still avid travelers. The RV also enabled the Ream family to travel frequently to local beaches and Lake Tahoe and to pursue the family hobby of riding ATV’s.  Dave was also an avid golfer who spent many happy days on the Coto de Caza golf course. In retirement, Dave and Diane were able to travel to Europe, Israel, Russia and China and live part-time in Lake Tahoe.

Dave is survived by his wife Diane Ream, three children and sister Kathy.  May Yip Ream and Tim Ream are the parents of Dave’s two granddaughters — Emily and Allison Ream.  On his wife’s side, Dave is survived by his mother-in-law, Vivian Curry; three sisters-in -law:  Vivian Brammer, Joan Curry, and Sue Pace, and her husband Rick Pace. On both sides, Dave has numerous nieces and nephews whom he cherished.

After living with advanced Parkinson’s disease for several years, Dave passed away on December 26, 2020.  His doctor described him as “a true gentleman.”  Dave was an outstanding son, brother, husband, dad, uncle, friend and public servant.  He was kind, loving, and patient and always tried to “do the right thing.”  Most people who knew Dave Ream would agree that he hit that “high mark”.

We will miss you Dave!

Donations can be made in David’s name to a charity he supported for many years” the Boys and Girls Club of the Central Coast, serving the youth of Santa Ana and other Orange County communities. You can make a donation online or send a check payable to: Boys & Girls Club of Central Orange Coast, 17701 Cowan, Suite 110, Irvine, CA 92614.

There will be a funeral service on Friday, January 15 at San Francisco Solano Catholic Church at 22082 Antonio Parkway, Rancho Santa Margarita at 10 AM.  This will be followed by the interment at Christ Cathedral Memorial Gardens located at 13280 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove at 12 PM.

 

Funeral Mass

  • Date & Time: January 15, 2021 (10:00 AM)
  • Venue: San Francisco Solano Catholic Church
  • Location: 22082 Antonio Parkway Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 - (Get Directions)
  • Phone Number: (949) 589-7767

Graveside Service

  • Date & Time: January 15, 2021 (12:00 PM)
  • Venue: Cathedral Memorial Gardens
  • Location: 13280 Chapman Avenue Garden Grove, CA 92840 - (Get Directions)

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56 responses to David Norman Ream

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  1. It is with a heavy heart that I offer my condolences to the Ream family. I was blessed with the opportunity to work for Dave as the Assistant to the City Manager for approximately 10 years. Dave was a City Managers – City Manager! A true professional in every sense of the word. While there were several individuals who were essential in helping me succeed in my career at the City of Santa Ana, Dave took a special interest in my career and mentored me to develop my skills in public administration. Dave always did his best to make the Santa Ana community and organization the best! One of Dave’s greatest qualities was his ability to navigate complex, controversial and sensitive matters. He could enter a room full of turmoil and contentiousness and through his mere presence with a calm and reassuring demeanor would lower the temperature in the room 100 degrees! Dave was known for having a stoic disposition, but if you ever had the opportunity to get to know him you soon realized that beneath the stoicism he really cared for city staff and the community. When my father passed away in 2004, Dave came to my office and offered his condolences. I’ll never forget what he shared with me that day. He said that he had lost his father at a very young age, but that he still missed him everyday. Dave sharing those very personal feelings were comforting and healing. Thank you Dave and may God bless you and your family. You will be missed. A true original. They don’t make them like Dave Ream any more!

  2. Mike Metzler says:

    The world has lost a true servant leader. I had the honor to partner with Dave on many professional accomplishments over 27 years at improving the quality of life for all who lived and worked in Santa Ana. It would take pages to describe all that he did in fulfilling his vocational purpose. However, I think it’s most meaningful to describe who he was. He was a man of high values. The values that were principal were authenticity, compassion, integrity, loyalty, responsibility, stability, and wisdom to name the more obvious. He was able to manage the intricate daily affairs of a major American city and at the same time effectively navigate the political machinations that were nearly always present. Personally, I enjoyed his company. He was a trusted friend. He was the brother I never had. My life was immeasurably enriched by knowing Dave Ream. My wife, Stephanie, and I will miss him very much.

  3. Missy says:

    Wherever a beautiful soul has been, there is a trail of incredible memories left for us to hold deeply within our hearts. It is those memories with my Uncle Dave that I will always cherish and continue to share with my own children. Memories that include holiday gatherings filled with laughter, ASU football, and Super 8 family movies, festive barbecues, lunch outings to Polly’s for apple pie, and interesting stories from his travels, his college days and on the golf course. He always listened with an open heart and he gave the best advice! I will be forever grateful for his kindness, support and love. He has always inspired me to give back to my community as he has with a clear vision and a caring heart. He will always be the “big boss” at the Santa Ana Work Center to me, so loved and respected by all who had the honor and privilege to know and work with him. He will be missed but never forgotten and he will always hold a special place in our hearts.

    With healing prayers and much love,
    Missy, Rob, Katie and Tyler

  4. Mr. Ream (as I’ll always refer to him even though I’m 40 years old now) was the first loving father figure I experienced. Spending time with the Ream family was always a welcome break from the chaos at my own home (no offense mom [who will probably see this]). Rest In Peace my old friend.

  5. Rob Richard says:

    It was my good fortune for work for Dave for almost 24 years .What I admire about Dave was his vision for improving life in Santa Ana and his dedication to making that vision a reality. He was all in, regardless of the difficulty, and he made a difference. Dave was a true public servant and he inspired others to be the same.

    My deepest sympathy goes to the Ream family,

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