Our father, David Howland Pulfer, of Staunton, Virginia passed away overnight in his home in the early morning hours of September 4th, 2022.

"Dave" was born in Bexleyheath, Kent, England on April 2, 1944 to Eve Thorney Pulfer and Donald Howland Pulfer. He was born during World War II in the London borough of Bexley, which was bombed hundreds of times over the course of the war. Although a bomb shelter was installed in their house, as was customary for that time, when Dave was a baby he and his older sister Valerie were sent to the English countryside to live with another family for a period of time to escape the dangers of war. Val, or "Auntie Val" as we called her, has spoken of her memories pertaining to our dad being put in a drawer to sleep while they were lodged in the country.

After the war, Dave became a true youth of the '50s and '60s, and was a fan of Elvis "the King," Queen, and the Rolling Stones. Dad liked to tell us about how Mick Jagger went to the same grammar school as him in Dartford, England.

Dave moved to the United States in the 1980s, after first venturing to California for a business trip. He retired from his longtime career with Perdue Farms and his passions were good English beer, watching English football, keeping his garden immaculately landscaped, and looking after his beautiful fishpond, which was inspired by the fishpond that his own father had during his childhood. Although our dad never became a United States citizen as he was too devoted to his English roots, he said in the later years of his life that "Virginia finally felt like home."

David was a reserved man who often kept to himself, but had a fantastic and often dry sense of humor that made everyone who got to know him adore him. He was the handiest man you will ever meet. He could fix or rewire anything, and he never failed to ask "How is your car running?"

David is preceded in death by his parents, Eve Thorney Pulfer, and Donald Howland Pulfer, and his sister, Valerie Fry. Among those that he leaves behind are his sister, Lesley Marshall, several nieces and nephews, two granddaughters, Eloise Josephine Langett, and Amber Georgia Shirra, as well as two son-in-laws, Matt Shirra and Jeremy Langett, and three daughters, Terri Shirra, Lindsay Langett, and Ashley Pulfer, who love him and will miss him very much.