David W. Post- age 63, of Maryville, passed away suddenly at his home the evening of Saturday December 19, 2009. He was of the Baptist faith and grew up attending Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in Maryville. He was preceded in death by his mother Margaret E. Clark Post and father William M. Post. He is survived by his daughter Claudia Post Depew and husband Mark Depew; grandchildren Cade and Cori Depew; lifetime soul mate Paula Post; brother John Clark Post and numerous special friends and family members.
Dave was very dedicated to and cherished his family, friends and associates. He was a man of few words but had abundant love and kindness for everyone. Dave was retired from Martin Marietta in Oak Ridge. His last working years were as a division head in Development. He was enjoying his retirement and spent his time with his beloved grandchildren and working on historical documentation for various groups and associations. He was currently a member of the Board of Directors of the historic Sam Houston Schoolhouse.
Dave was also a founding member and past president of the Cades Cove Preservation. He and numerous CCPA friends supervised The Thompson Brown House Cades Cove displays. He had a deep love for Cades Cove from which his forefathers descended. He left behind his love preserved in many years of research documents and pictures of his family history. On a regular basis, as a volunteer, he cleaned and maintained churches in Cades Cove, educated the public about Cades Cove through the Cades Cove museum, and participated in the Old Timers Day in the Cove and Townsend.
Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at McCammon-Ammons-Click Chapel with Rev. Raymond Burnett officiating. The interment will follow in Grandview Cemetery. The family will receive friends 1:00-2:00 p.m. Tuesday at McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cades Cove Preservation Association, P.O. Box 213, Alcoa, Tennessee 37701
www.funeraldigest.com
This page in loving memory of
Dave W. Post
1946-2009
Founding member of the Cades Cove Preservation
A friend to all
Gloria Motter, All Rights Reserved CCPA
Guest book for Dave's family & friends
Cades Cove bell tolls for Dave Post
Originally published: December 27. 2009 3:01AM
The bell tolled 63 times: 63, the age of my dear friend, Dave Post, who died Dec.19. by Linda Albert
How appropriate that Dave's passing would be noted by the tolling of the Cades Cove bell following the funeral service Dec. 22. Three others -- Mildred Bardill, Roy Coada and Bill Post, Dave's beloved father, who died in 2004 -- have had the same solemn memorial since Lendel Abbott built a stand several years ago for the old bell on his Blount County farm. This relic of Cades Cove once tolled at Hopewell Church, founded after the Civil War by Confederate veteran Dan Lawson near what is now the Lawson exhibit in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was rescued by Lendel and his father, Slick Abbott, in the 1940s.
The bell stands silent now until another son or daughter of the Cove passes away. In the tradition of the mountain community, on that occasion, the bell is tolled -- the clapper hitting only one side of the bell -- one time for each year of the deceased's life.
I was not able to attend the bell-ringing, but I was privileged to attend the funeral service with numerous other family, friends and "cuzins," a silly name all those who have special ties to Cades Cove through the Cades Cove Preservation Association began to call ourselves.
Dave was a founding member of CCPA; we met when the idea of such a group was just beginning to come to fruition. As a founding member myself, I soon came to know Dave and the other cuzins and learned much about Cades Cove and its history in the course of covering CCPA activities for this newspaper.
Dave was passionate about his heritage, passionate about his family, passionate about historic preservation. The people of Blount County owe a great debt to him for his work in documenting the history of Cades Cove, in particular. He was meticulous in his record-keeping, always ready to share his knowledge of people and events with those who wanted to know more.
I was one of those. I knew if I needed a fact or a reference for a story I was doing, Dave would either have the information or would point me to the person who might.
But Dave was much more than a recorder of history. He prowled those mountains and hollows and actively sought out the roots of his Cades Cove ancestors, including Dr. John Calvin Post. He rolled up his sleeves, and with his fellow volunteers, he cleaned the existing churches in the Cove, righted tombstones and made graveled paths through the adjoining cemeteries, and reclaimed the small family cemeteries, including that of the Post family.
Dave wrote an article several years ago for the CCPA newsletter when I was serving as editor. Called "The Leaves Are Falling," it was about the older men and women of Cades Cove who are quickly passing from this life to the next. I share with you a portion of that article now:
"The leaves are falling. We can no more prevent the inevitable decease of our loved ones than we can change the course of the seasons. In truth, for the majority of those who reach the autumn of their lives, it would be a disservice to deprive them of their rewards. They have earned the right to rejoin their Papas, Mamas, life mates, children, family and friends in celebration of the lives and accomplishments enjoyed on Earth with those which will be shared eternally with their Maker. They are once again experiencing a springtime. They have been reborn!
"As we remember our loved ones who have left, we should be reminded of our opportunities and even obligations to our descendants, to seize every occasion available to listen, understand, appreciate and document the lives of our ancestors. ... (Our descendants) deserve to know the stories of those who preceded them. We have an obligation to preserve our family heritage before the leaves fall."
Dave Post lived the words he wrote. He was an honest man, an honorable man, whose earthly autumn came quite unexpectedly and much too soon. We who are left behind are going to sorely miss him, yet the legacy he leaves us will always be in hearts.
Linda Albert is Women's Times editor and a staff writer for The Daily Times. Her column runs every Sunday in the Women's Times section. You may contact her at 981-1168 or linda.albert@thedailytimes.com, or follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lalbert_editor.
CCPA Heritage Festival 4-18-2009
Photo submitted by Jim Phillips
Post leaves legacy of Cades Cove preservation Originally published: December 27. 2009 3:01AM
Blount County lost a strong link to its past with the passing of David W. Post on Dec. 19.
A descendant of Cades Cove families, Post was tied to that community and to its history.
Post, who passed away unexpectedly at his home Dec. 19 at age 63, was a founding member of the Cades Cove Preservation Association in 2001 and CCPA president in 2007-08.
He had blood ties to Cove families such as Cable and Gregory. He volunteered to clean and maintain churches in the Cove. He was involved with the East Tennessee Historical Society, as well as with efforts to preserve the Myers Cemetery in Townsend and the Clarks Grove Cemetery off Williams Mill Road.
He helped supervise displays at the Thompson-Brown House in Maryville and was instrumental in making it a museum. He was a regular participant Old Timers Day in Cades Cove and Townsend. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the historic Sam Houston Schoolhouse.
Cades Cove was always first in his preservation efforts. It was Post who inspired the revival of the Cove tradition of tolling a church bell when a Cove resident died. Three days before Christmas, the historic Cove church bell tolled for Post after his burial at Grandview Cemetery.
He was a driving force behind the success of the Winter Heritage Festival that will be held for its fourth year in February. As he did in previous years, Post lined up the speakers and demonstrators for the 2010 festival. It was a task he undertook without fanfare.
There is a popular quote -- attributed to various sources -- that fits Dave Post’s leadership style: “It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.”
Post cared. He cared deeply about preserving the heritage of Cades Cove and its families. But he didn’t care to take credit for getting it done.
Others give him credit. They noticed the quiet work he did behind the scenes. They noticed how he listened without saying much when others presented ideas and argued positions. When Post finally spoke, people paid attention. He could distill the ideas of others and devise a plan of action. He could build a consensus to bring people together to accomplish a goal. He disagreed with others, at times, but was never rude or obnoxious about it. He just told you what he thought.
Something else people remember about Post -- he was dependable. If he told you he was going to do something, you could count on it being done.
People characterize Post in similar and simple terms: “a good guy ... a very nice man ... a true gentleman.”
He will be missed.
