David Arken

Left "A" the day after graduation and have been in San Jose Ca for all but a few years hear and there, Cal Poly Grad Mechanical Engineering 1970 and came right back here to SJ to live and love.
Have been with Katie for 45 blissful years, married for 41, 2 kids Mollie the CPA with 2 girls, James the Civil Engr with 1 son, they all live with in 100 yards of me, they say it's to keep me under control.
Worked in computer disk drive business for 36 years, mostly in management of Equipment Engineering and various other management roles, retired 3 times and made it stick in June 2006. Spent my last 6 working years traveling in Asia working with disk manufactures, I'm one of those million mile guys. Spent 9-11 in Penang Malaysia, had quite an experience getting home.
Have enjoyed life since leaving HHS, great loving family. Enjoy fishing, hiking, walking and my long time love car racing. Still build and drive a single seat road race car, coach drivers, teach high speed competition driving. We have season ticket to the SJ Sharks and the SJ Rep and belong to several of the San F arts programs. We love road trips and spent 2 weeks around my 65th around Zion and Brice, doing 3 weeks in July (2013) into Canada around Banff.
Like to judge grade school science fair because they always teach me so much.
Still keep up sorta with Linda Peterson Chapman, Jack Groves, David Roberts and Norman Ely.
Went through the big "C" and I'm 5 years into the 5. Every day I wake up is a bonus day and I do my best to enjoy it. I'm a vegetarian, 2 days a week, walk 3-4 miles a day.
I have an actual e-mail address arkend@sbcglobal.net
Books enjoyed recently:Art of Racing in the Rain (it is not about racing):Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption biography of Louis Silvie Zamperini an Olympic runner’s and his story of survival in WWII as a prisoner of war in Japan; Steven Jobs biography: Michael Moore, Here Comes Trouble
Play enjoyed recently:Monty Python in search of the Holy Grail
Musical treats: Rosanne Cash in Santa Cruz; Musical theater; Million Dollar Quartet

Oct 17, 2023
Wow, 77 years old today, how can that be, where did the time go, and what a great ride so far! I must thank a lot of people who helped me get here happy and alive. I really would like to make a list but would be worried that someone would be left off, because the list would be everyone I ever met. We are the total of the lifetime of interactions. Katie is however the single most important influence and cornerstone of everything good in my life, thank you dear, I love you! Even my life being saved by medical science had a lot to do with Katie being the best of the best as a nurse. Her expertise, her skill and dedication to nursing was key in getting me great medical treatment. I have a wonderful family, something that I could not imagine from my dysfunctional roots as a young man, I seriously wanted nothing to do “family,” yet here we are, thanks family, I love you guys also. It is going to be a good day, Katie to the doctor early this morning, lunch with some racers, I will stop in and see Bob Fox in the assisted living facility, have an SCCA conference call this afternoon, and tonight daughter Mollie and I are going to a Sharks game. Ok the likelihood of the Sharks winning is somewhere between 0 and none, but it is the company and being at the game that is the memory.

Thank you, to all my family, friends, acquaintances, people who were kind and I never realized, and people who taught me painful and important life lessons, thank you all! And to Katie Happy 71.5 birthday, we are 6 months to the day 5.5 years apart, we celebrate today together.

May 5, 2025
KT and I are now up to almost 51 years and we seem to enjoy each others company more and more.

Hated high school, it was the worst time of my life and it has all been great since then. There were fun times for sure and friendships and memories and I'm looking forward to seeing people again. I'm sure there was no better high school in Albuquerque and I'm proud to be a grad.
My shop teacher at Wilson Jr, Mr Wayne Trump stood watch over me and made me learn trades I could use to make a living; he went on to HHS when we did and he kept looking after me and made sure I did not drop out. The trades he taught me put me through collage he was the person I called when I graduated from Cal Poly and when I get to "A" I call him to say thanks. A real teacher can change a life, he changed mine and I'll always be grateful.