David K Gilbertson
February 29, 1944 - November 14, 2024
David was born on February 29, 1944 in Forest Grove, Oregon and passed away on November 14, 2024 in Alaska.
David married his wife, Susan, in 1967. He served in the Coast Guard for 13 years in various places, including the Philippines and Viet Nam where he carried out helicopter rescues. He was a first-class petty office when he left the Coast Guard.
Later he raced snowmachines and motorcycles for Shell Oil.
David joined Alyeska Pipeline in 1978, shortly after pipeline startup. He worked as a Mechanic Tech and an Instrument Tech at Alyeska between 1978 and 1999.
Much of his career was spent at Pump Stations 4 and 5 where he was mainly involved in maintaining the RGVs. He spent a year as a temporary station manager and was a strong supporter of Alyeska’s evolving safety programs.
He returned as a contractor in 2005 and finally retired for the last time in 2015.
During his retirement he liked to work on old cars and hotrods. His favorite was his '34 Ford. David and Susan lived in Sterling, Ak for 53 years.
He is survived by his wife Susan and his five sons.
Walt Brophy
Dave was a great guy. He saved me one time. I broke the quill shaft on a Garrett Generator through error.
He swapped the whole engine, replaced the shaft and never said a word. He kept me out of significant trouble.
Always ready to help, never asking for anything in return. I'm gonna miss him.
Cathy Girard
I'm sorry to hear of Dave's passing. He "befriended" me as a new hire and was always gentle and kind when I asked the silliest of questions.You can tell a lot about a person just by listening and I know that Dave was extremely proud of his family and loved them dearly.
Joel Westerlund
I'm very sorry to hear of Dave's passing, he was one of the good guys you could always count on to make the job go easy and have a good time. Going to miss his jokes and storys and his easy going way about him. RIP Dave
Harvey Anderson
So sorry for his family and to all those that walked along side of someone that was a wonderful person. I didn't know him as well as others but have seen him in different places and he always treated people well. My prayers for his family and to those that miss him.
John Ballard
Dave was great. He was an FAA brat from Yakutat and I was an FAA brat from Gustavus. However I didn't know him until we worked at Alyeska. He was a talented mechanic and had a wonderful personality.
Nita McCallum
Sad news here. Dave was an awesome individual. I also spent the last few years of my career at Pump 4. Dave was our night shift control room operator while we transitioned to, and learned to trust, the SR equipment. He was one of those guys that didn't need to tell you how knowledgable he was, you just figured it out by watching. Rest peacefully Dave.
David Yunker
My condolences to Dave's family, may he rest in peace.I didn't know Dave very well. We met in the winter 2011-12. He was a contractor brought in to PS#7 for the 'Crude Recycling Crew" Adding heat to the crude oil. Dave was a very happy, nice guy. Always keeping the crew laughing. Thank-you,Dave for the happiness you brought to the station.
Neil Umatum
So sorry to hear about David Gilbertsons passing. He was my counterpart planner for the Task Force for several years and was a standup person . He will be missed RIP.
Greg Kinney
I can only add to the choir on Dave. He was a very, very nice man. As he did for Cathy, he helped me learn what I needed to know. In those days, Alyeska was not short on folks who wanted to perform a hazing ritual, particularly targeted at upstart engineers like myself who, let;s face facts, might have had it coming. But that wasn't Dave. He was just a great guy on top of being very good at what he did.
Pat Campbell
I met Dave 35 years ago when I was a laborer at P. S. 5. He was such a friendly, fun and kind man. When I was applying for a job as a pump station technician position in '93, I asked him if I could use him as a reference.
He said: "you don't want to use me as a reference you won't get hired!" He had a great sense of humor and was always willing to help anyone in need. My heart goes out to his family for their loss.