Dave “The Dahlia Man” Vahrenwald, well known heavy equipment operator died of complications of cancer in Bremerton on Sept. 26, 2021. He was born on Oct. 12, 1953, in Oregon.

After serving with the US Marines in Central America in the 1980s, he married Karen and they had two boys; Dustin and Clinton. They divorced.

In his life he was a contractor in California, a commercial fisherman in Alaska, finally settling in Forks where he built roads for logging companies.

He had a ten-acre dahlia farm on Fuhrman Rd., south of Forks. Some of his bulbs were purchased by the Japanese Royal family.

He gave up the Dahlias when he developed cancer which he fought for over a decade.

There were no services at his request.