Given his choice, David Charles Flaherty, who left our world peacefully on April 28, 2018 at the age of 94, at the Memory Villa's at Bishop Place in Pullman, WA would have roared away waving good-bye from the driver's seat of his Honda ST1100 motorcycle or from his Cessna 182 airplane! An adventurer at heart, Dave made his final entry in his pilot's log book in 2000 (6,192 hours), and then learned to ride his first motorcycle at age 70.  In 1997, he and wife Peggy circumnavigated the United States on their Honda ST1100, and in 2003, he celebrated his 80 ^th birthday by motorcycling solo from Pullman to New England and back.

Both professionally and freelance, Dave was known throughout the country from 1956 and into his retirement years as a writer and publications specialist. He authored, edited, designed, and illustrated with his own photographs in publications for Washington State University College of Engineering, the State of Washington Water Research Center, Chelan County Public Utility District, the United Nations (UNESCO), Department of the Interior, and other local and state agencies.  He co-authored two books on the environment and a volume of work for the fruit industry.

Dave was born on September 25, 1923 in Riverdale, California to William and Virtue Flaherty. He lived with his elderly father or with the families of his adult siblings after his mother died when he was five.  Dave enlisted in the California National Guard the summer of 1940 but was honorably discharged for being younger than 18 when President Franklin Roosevelt federalized his Guard unit following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  After graduating from Riverdale High School in 1941, he trained for defense industry work as a factory sheet metalist. He interrupted that work by accepting an invitation to help a fellow worker sail his small sailboat to up to San Francisco.  Dave was assured that it would be easy in spite of his limited sailing experience. However, several days later, they encountered a storm north of Santa Barbara. Dave's fellow worker was washed overboard by a large wave, and regrettably his body was not recovered. The Coast Guard, who had been watching their sailboat heading towards the rocky coast, rescued Dave and the boat.

Following his recovery from a concussion sustained in the accident, Dave worked at Lindbergh Field in San Diego for the Consolidated Aircraft Company. When he turned 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was assigned to air bases in Nevada. Later he signed up to go to the South Pacific and was shipped off to New Caledonia, New Guinea, and Leyte in the Philippine Islands.

After WWII, he attended Visalia Junior College, married his first wife, Wilma Joy Davis, and then attended and graduated from Stanford University.

In 1956, he came to Washington State College as a technical editor for the College of Engineering and Architecture. In 1964, he was named editor of QUEST, a WSU magazine covering new developments in science and engineering and potential impacts on the economy and public. He also prepared documentaries and slide/tape presentations, including one funded by the Society of Women Engineers detailing the increasing opportunities in engineering for young women.

Flaherty also was active in Washington State schools and government. He served as an area vice-president of the Washington State PTA 1972-1974 and was appointed by Daniel J. Evans as a member of the Washington State Governors' Committee. He was a member of the Palouse School Board and the Washington State School Directors Association.

Dave supervised the WSU engineering photographic research laboratory and assisted with planning and publications. He was on inter-governmental assignment from WSU to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Cooperative Flow Group, at Fort Collins, Colorado from June 1977 through June 1979.

In 1979, he married his second wife, Peggy, with whom he enjoyed many hours of dancing to country music, skiing, motorcycling, flying, and international travel.

After retiring from WSU in 1988, he was retained by UNESCO in Paris, France.  He prepared and edited water-related publications, including a 590-page volume, co-published by Cambridge University in England, titled "Hydrology and Water Management in the Humid Tropics."

As a public service, Dave and daughter Laurie, also a pilot, made informational presentations on the Palouse Region to touring groups, local granges, and farm organizations. In February, 2008, they presented an illustrated program on the "Ice Ages" to the WSU Retirees Association and Pullman's Senior Center. Included were selections from two decades of aerials taken by the two pilots over the path of the Ice Age floods in the Pacific Northwest.

Besides his parents, two half-sisters and two half-brothers preceded him in death. Dave is survived by his wife, Peggy; his three daughters Kathleen (Mike) Whitney of Eugene, Ore., Laurie Flaherty of Moscow, Idaho, and Kelley Flaherty of Bellingham, Wash.; two grandchildren, Steve (Rhiannon) Lenssen of Portland, Ore. and Julia (Geoff) Lodge of Bend, Oregon; five great grandchildren, Kaelynn, Haley, Eden, Reid and Graham David; two step-sons, Kevin (Nicole) Poe and Kerry (Amy) Poe of Portland, Oregon; and three step-grandsons, Alexander, Wyatt, and Carlisle.  A very special thanks to Jolene Leef, his hospice nurse, and to all the kind and dedicated workers of both Kindred Hospice and of Bishop Place. Their care and kindness toward Dave in his last days is much appreciated by his entire family.

Viewing will be held from 9 am to 5 pm Wednesday, May 2 ^nd at Kimball Funeral Home in Pullman, WA.  A public reception will be held at 12 noon on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at the Ridge Pointe Community Club House, 1402 Fancy Free Dr. in Pullman.  David will be laid to rest with full Military Honors at the Pullman City Cemetery.

The family suggests donations to honor Dave to Friends of Hospice, PO Box 484, Pullman, WA 99163.