David Isaac Arogeti

LIVESTREAM: Please click here to view the recording of this service.

SHIVA: Shiva will be held 7:00 PM at Congregation Or VeShalom on Sunday, February 16th and Monday, February 17th. 

OBITUARY
With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of David Isaac Arogeti. 

David was born on May 4, 1961 in Atlanta to Renee and the late Raymond Arogeti, of blessed memory, the fourth of five children. 

Born deaf, David attended Atlanta Speech School, and was a graduate of Northside High School and Atlanta Area Tech. After graduation, he worked 38 years at the IRS in the Department of Files Maintenance, where he excelled winning numerous awards for efficiency, accuracy, and longevity. 

A passionate sports fan, David especially loved cheering on the University of Georgia and Atlanta sports teams. He possessed a mastery of children’s magic tricks, wowing both his nieces and nephews, and in later years, their children just the same. David also shined at family weddings and bar mitzvahs, as he rocked the dance floor with an arsenal of soul train and sports themed moves that everyone looked forward to and few could emulate. 

David is survived by his mother Renee, his brother Jack (Fran) Arogeti, his sisters Shelley (Steve) Kruger, Lynn (DJ) Pascale, and Susan (John) Varrone, 16 loving nieces and nephews, another 16 great nieces and nephews, and an extensive, caring, family of aunts, uncles, and cousins on both the Arogeti family side and Franco family side. 

David is preceded in death by his father, Raymond Arogeti, and grandparents Isaac and Rachel Franco, and Jack and Regina Arogeti, all of blessed memory. 

A gravesite funeral will be held Friday February 14 at 10:00 AM at Greenwood Cemetery, 1173 Cascade Cir. SW, and will be live streamed with a link to be added to this obituary shortly.

He was a good man and we will miss him beyond words. 

WORDS FROM THE FAMILY: 
Introduction
David, this is for you...

Hello, everyone.  

On behalf of my mom and all our family - we have 4 generations here tonight -, we truly appreciate all your very kind texts, emails, calls, wonderful keepsake postings on the Dressler site and more... including tonight being here. 

At least as much, we appreciate your being there for David... throughout his life. Your smiles, hugs, conversations, kindness, all of that was more than appreciated by him at the time and appreciated beyond words by us now. We're forever grateful. 

John Lennon Story
There is a story attributed to John Lennon, yes, of the Beatles. As a five-year-old boy, his mother told him, the key to life was happiness. When he went to school, teachers would ask him, what do you want to be? He said, "happy". They said, "you don't understand the assignment". He said "you, don't understand life".

David was happy. He was at peace and enjoying his life.

Or VeShalom
It's fitting that we're here in a sanctuary, particularly the OVS sanctuary where, even though David couldn't really understand what was going on, he was always surrounded by family and friends and goodwill.

A sanctuary, if not the ultimate classroom, is at least the penultimate classroom. This is where we learn that “happy is the one content with his lot".

David was content. He didn't aspire to a bigger home, financial fortune, and he would never begrudge or envy anyone who had more. With plenty of help - and exceptional help from my mom and dad, in particular, to say the very least - he had gratitude, order and peace in his life. His lot in life.

And a few words about David at OVS. He Bar mitzvah-ed here 50 years ago. He may have been a bit later than 13 years age wise. We sat right there watching him struggle with Hebrew and also the English, but he persevered, and we were just so proud of him and we had tears in our eyes. Later in life, David - no one - couldn't read lips over a big distance from here to way over there so it was hard. But he loved being with his family and among a caring community in the sanctuary. He really loved being in the social hall - and at OVS softball games - where he could talk with people and share hugs and handshakes and smile with others while knowing he, like everyone else, was welcomed and appreciated. He saw his proud Grandpa with his Franco brothers and knowing how much OVS meant to Grandpa and the Franco family helped show David how special this and all around it - was. 

David loved being here.

A Good Name
Rabbi Hearshen just spoke about a good name. David built his own good name.

Friday, we heard from Rabbi and from Scott, that David had worked at the Internal Revenue Service. He received numerous awards over his 38-year career and not just for longevity. For proficiency, accuracy, loyal dedication, and overall performance. David had built quite a good name for himself there; even though some co-workers may not have thought much of his not engaging in office chit chat.

Uncle Jimmy Story
I remember growing up, when I would introduce myself, someone would inevitably say "Arogeti, are you related to Jim Arogeti"? I would smile and say, yeah, "Uncle Jimmy is my dad's brother". Later in life, I would introduce myself to someone and they would say, "Arogeti, are you related to Robert Arogeti" sometimes Joel Arogeti"? I would say, "yeah, Robert's my first cousin, his dad and my dad are brothers". Well, Robert told Mom or Lynn or me the story of one time he went to the internal revenue office with a client to have a tax related meeting with an IRS official. When Robert introduced himself, the IRS official said, "Arogeti, are you related to David Arogeti"? We loved that story. It made us proud and it made David proud. 

David had built a very good name for himself at work for 38 years and had goodwill toward everyone. 

Bowling
David liked to do a lot of things outside of work. He loved sports and early on, Mom and Dad got him involved in bowling. I know the Sims girls and Jacobson boys will remember the old Broadview Plaza bowling alley down on the bottom. With all the noise of those pinball machines and the release of throwing a ball at something and seeing / hearing the commotion of pins knocked around, they thought it would be a great release for him and a good thing to release tension outside the house. Later, David would bowl at Express Lanes, and he was quite good. Bowling 220 even 240 was not unusual. David played on teams and competed individually. 

But it wasn't just his ability to bowl. 

My son Scott told me a few days ago how he and my nephew Michael Kruger would sleep over Miami and Papoo's house - my Mom and Dad - and David would take them to him to Express Lanes. As they walked in, staffers would say "Hey David". "Hey David, how are ya?"  "Who ya got there?" They liked him and he liked them.

It wasn't bowling scores, people there liked him as a nice, pleasant guy. 

Not just here, whether at CVS, McDonald's and who knows how many where else's, David had built a good name for himself... and among people, no one else in this family knew.

Dancing
And then there was where everyone in his family knew their names - at family weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs…

Remember that old Don Cornelius Saturday show - Soul Train? David would VHS tape those shows and practice in his room those moves. Andon Friday football games at Grady high school, where Shelley and Jill Sims too would do drill team marching moving heads, legs, and arms around, that got included too. And sports fan David saw Sunday football to see Billy White Shoes Johnson touchdown scores and Deion Sanders hand to head inception dance and the Icky shuffle, all those things, as well, were incorporated into David's dance routine. He could do that with really amazing dexterity, and he was not a small guy. He was a big guy, but I think he had that Franco & Amato ability to be light on his feet and dance - and be very cheerful about it. He could be an extrovert among friends. My favorite was move was his Bow & Arrow shooting an arrow into the air and then raising his hands moving his figures as he turned around as an analogue celebration like the push the white dot on videos and pictures, he would text us digitally showing fireworks celebration. I feel now like David was that arrow.

Keep in mind David was deaf - he couldn't hear the music - but maybe he heard the music better than any of us heard the music. Not just through a beat or vibration, but in seeing the joy that it created around him, and he became that joy and he really was a big part of that joy for others. I find myself more aware of the music now - eyes and more, not just ears.

So, David made a name for himself at work, at play and at home.

Over his 63 years, we see he really did build his own good name.

The Name, "David Isaac Arogeti"
If you said that to David, he might think - "Of course, I know I have a good name - David Isaac Arogeti. I was born with my good name at first breath". 

Side bar - David's name was determined before he was born, before his sister Lynn was born, before sister Shelley being born or even before I was born - about 8 years earlier! Mom knew the names of the 4 kids she wanted to have even as she was getting married (1953). The 2nd son would be named David Isaac Arogeti.

David Isaac
Mom's father was Isaac David Franco. So, David Isaac was named after his maternal grandfather, Isaac David. David loved being part of the Franco family. So many happy cousins and family, each appreciating all their fathers and mothers - and aunts and uncles - have done and how close they all were to each other. David was proud of his Franco blood and on Grandma's side, his Amato blood and family, too. 

Grandpa's name is on a plaque outside this building as one of the half century plus years ago co-chairman to raise money to build this building. And here we are honoring his namesake grandson and where David gave his Bar Mitzvah speech - 50 years ago. 

Grandpa was the first person I ever heard say "the Apple of my eye”. Well, He loved Grandma "like kids" as he'd write on anniversary cards and Mom was in a league by herself - an orchard of apples. And while I think he felt that with each of the grandkids - David was an EXTRA special apple of his eye.  And certainly, David felt that was about Grandpa!

In my mind's eye right now, I see the picture of grandpa in the backyard of mom's house crouching down wearing a tie and catcher’s mitt and a hand stuck up like this like that's how you catch a ball, - like a middle-aged Sephardic Johnny Bench. Maybe 8-year-old David is batting (maybe it was Susan, but I don't think so) and Grandpa was the catcher.

Grandpa could do a whole lot of things. And very well. 

But I don’t recall pitch and catch baseball being one of them, but he did it for David. David was immensely special to him - and Grandpa was immensely special to David. 

Arogeti
And on the Arogeti side - Of course, it starts with David's Mom and Dad giving him the last name. Mom and Dad were extraordinary - God bless you Dad -, more than we could ask for. I think you'd have to say that David really was that special heavenly child sent only to the right Mom and the right Dad and God sure picked the right ones for David. 

BUT it was more than his mom and Dad and siblings. There was the whole Arogeti Capuano Levy Steinman family, a host of aunts and uncles and cousins and second cousins and so many people who made David feel as Uncle Jimmy would say, literally “as one of their own”. Uncle Mike Levy was extra special to David and David was to Uncle Mike, too. Uncle Mike brought David USC football stuff and was an even bigger stronger guy himself than David and he could get through to David better than any of us could. Uncle Mike was always a superhero... to David especially.

David was loved within the family. The Franco family, the Amato family, the Arogeti family. 

So, David had built his own good name himself after more than 63 years. And while he started off with a very good name with his very first breath, if not before, he took it beyond and made it even better.

To conclude
David lived a modest life with happiness. 

Thanks to each of you here today and so many others for all the kindness and affection you showed David.

There are 3 people I'd like to especially note:

1) Gerilyn Sims - At Hillpine, next door neighbor Gerilyn, even when she was just around 9 or 10 years old, she would come over and help Mom with David and was an angel on Earth. David had great affection for her, and we all always appreciated the amazing Sims girls and parents for being so wonderful and helpful. Gerilyn was a very caring and attentive big sister and teacher to David, and I bet we have more pictures with her and David in our backyard together than we do of any of us. God bless Gerilyn.

2) And Judge Debra Halpern Bernes - We - and David - knew her as Debbie Halpern.  Dear Debbie was always so very nice to David. He had a big crush on her and would tell us she was so beautiful. God bless Debbie who showed David kindness and affection probably more special to him than we could imagine.

3) And to Mom.  I don't have any words sufficient for this. Momma was a teacher, companion, friend, counselor, caregiver and more to David Every day of his life. They lived in the same house not just for 63 years but for over 20,000 - even over 23,000 - often challenging days and nights and over half a million hours. And without taking a break and without interruption.  And by the way, while Momma was taking care of 4 other kids and taking care of dad and also Grandpa and Grandma. (I didn't include this during at the time remarks but should have - "she didn't have brothers or sisters to help with demanding daily challenges. No wonder she was "Desiada". The Desired One. She was born 10 years after Grandpa and Grandma were married. and was certainly more than worth the wait to them and to most certainly to Dad and each of us!)

In Closing
I should have introduced myself before I spoke, so I'll really conclude with this. I am Jack Arogeti. Like Steve Kruger, like D.J. Pascale, like John Varrone, I am David Isaac Arogeti's brother.  Thank you.

DONATIONS: Anyone wishing to make a donation in David’s memory, please consider either Congregation Or VeShalom or a charity of your choice.