David E. Oppenheimer 1922-2021

David E. Oppenheimer passed away peacefully on October 31, 2021 after a brief illness.  He was born in New York City, the first child of Edgar D. Oppenheimer and Carolyn Weil Oppenheimer.  He graduated from the Horace Mann school and then studied Economics at Brown University before entering the Navy in 1944.  He served proudly on the USS DeHaven, DD727 in the Pacific theater a witness to the signing of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo. After Typhoon Cobra, David recovered the ensign that was badly destroyed in the storm. See story here.

  He worked in sales for numerous firms including US Plywood, Pitney Bowes, WT Grant, among others.  He married Joan Ann Caffrey and had three children with her, Trudy C, David A., and John D. Oppenheimer before their marriage ended in divorce.   He later married Eleanor G. Barnet and became step-father to Henry B. Barnet III and Thomas G. Barnet. 

He had a passion for the Arts.  An avid watercolorist, sculptor, and musician.  He studied the cello at the Juliard School and was first chair of the Westchester Symphony Orchestra.  He also was an enthusiastic tennis player, taking the courts well into his 90s.  However, his greatest joy was his family.  

He is survived by his children; Trudy, David and his wife Elise, John and his wife Johanna, Henry and his wife Barbara, Thomas and his wife Joan as well as his seven grandchildren; Bennett and Mason Fields, Megan, Mikaela, and Adelaide Oppenheimer, and Peter and Alan Barnet and seven great-grandchildren; Hunter, Kaitlyn, Austin, Oliver, and Benjamin Barnet, Owen Oppenheimer, and Cora Fields.

He loved people, he reveled in life, and always passed on the adages “Keep it going!” and “Enjoy what you’ve got while you’ve got it!”