David M Mahle

DAVID MICHAEL MAHLE
“A Husband, Father, and Grandfather Remembered”

Dave Mahle, husband, father of two, stepfather of three, and grandfather of seven, passed away peacefully with his family at his side on October 24, 2023.  David Michael Mahle was born on October 26, 1943 and grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. His father, John Mahle, grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and, upon graduating from Penn State University, came to New York City. John was a Civil Engineer with the U.S. Army, traveling throughout the United States and Europe.

While living in New York City, he met Mary Viola McIsaac from Portland, Maine. John and Mary married and had three sons: John Jr., David, and Gerald.  Dave attended Regis High School, a prestigious Jesuit school in New York City, where he played basketball. Upon graduating, he attended Boston College, finishing in 1965 with a B.A. in Business. He continued his education at Fordham University Law School and graduated with a J.D. in 1968. Driven to learn more in finance, he received an LLM in Taxation from New York University Law School in 1973.

Dave began his legal career with the firm Emmett, Marvin and Martin and was made partner in 1988. Later, he joined the international law firm Jones Day as a partner, practicing principally in the financial and banking services industry. He had extensive experience representing both public and private investment companies, including open-end and closed-end investment companies, money market funds, structured investment vehicles, exchange traded funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds and real estate funds. He also represented investment advisors to these funds on regulatory, organizational, and other matters.

Though Dave retired from Jones Day in 2010, his passion for the financial and banking industry didn’t end. He served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School for twelve years, sharing his wealth of knowledge and expertise in these industries with his students. Dave also was invited to join the Board of Trustees of Exchange Traded Concepts, an organization sponsoring exchange traded funds.

Dave cherished his family. He married his first true love, Sonja Petersen and spent 38 years together in a wonderful marriage, raising two children, Michael and Suzanne.  Sonja and Dave moved from New York City to Allendale in 1972, where they raised their family. Dave and Sonja relished going on exciting trips abroad, though none compared to sitting for hours in bleachers while cheering on years of family sport activities and enjoying summers with friends and family on Long Beach Island. Dave’s family happily expanded, with Michael’s marriage to Danna and the birth of Nina, and Suzanne’s marriage to Tim and the birth of Ashlan and Braedyn.

As those of you who knew Dave are well-aware, whatever he set out to do in life, he did with passion, enthusiasm, energy, and drive. Dave volunteered countless years in the Allendale community coaching children in basketball and baseball and was a member of the Church of Presentation. And as we all know, Dave was an avid golfer and active member of the Tuxedo Golf Club for 42 years and the Bonita Bay Golf Club for 22 years. During his membership at The Tuxedo Golf Club he held the position of Chairman for Audit and Governance and Grievance Chairman.

After Sonja’s untimely passing, Dave later accepted a blind date with Christie Fink in 2010. They celebrated their marriage with family and dear friends, and Dave felt blessed having two families to love, including Christie’s children, their spouses, and her grandchildren: Caitlin, James, Jack, and Lilia; Colin, Robyn, Calvin, and Charlotte and Lauren. Dave patiently persevered in teaching Christie and family the fabulous game of golf over the years, with Dave and Christie taking their interest in golf to Ireland and Prince Edward Island, playing at some of the best courses, with Old Head in Kingsdale overlooking the ocean being one of Dave’s favorites. As a connoisseur of oysters, playing golf and going to the annual Oyster Festival on Cape Cod was one of his preferred outings. Summers on the Cape with family, walking the tidal flats, shucking oysters in the back yard, and spending winters in Bonita Springs, Florida were always among the most fun times spent together.

We have all much to appreciate and learn from Dave’s life. He has taught us to view every challenge as an opportunity; to live life to the fullest; to be respectful and work hard; and to cherish the most precious thing of all: our families. Friends close to him will always remember kindness, loyalty, and wonderful sense of humor. We are all so blessed, and our lives fuller, because of Dave. We love him more than we can ever say and are forever grateful to God for the gift of having him as a husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend.
May God bless him and may he rest in peace.

The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in memory of David Michael Mahle to the Regis High School, 55 East 84th St., New York, NY 10028 or Fordham University School of Law, 150 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023