David Wilbert Saari

David Wilbert Saari, 87, passed away peacefully on August 27, 2026, surrounded by his family in Phoenix, Arizona. He was born to Impi Josephine (Jo) and Wilbert John Saari on April 6th, 1939 in Askel, MI. After the untimely death of his father when Dave was 3, he spent his early years on his grandparent’s farm in Portage township. Dave graduated from Hancock High School in 1957 During his spare time, he loved playing numerous sports like hockey, basketball and baseball. and also pursued music interests, playing both the violin and trombone. He went on to study engineering at Michigan Technical University.

David left Michigan in 1960 for Milwaukee, WI, where he (almost!) met Charlene Kay Eggers on 7 different occasions over the next 6 years. It was meant to be! They both worked at Allen Bradley-(but on different floors), they were both in Germany at the time-(but 25 kilometers apart), they were part of the same ski club (different hills! Lol) Finally in 1966, when they were both part of the same Art school, he finally met Charlene, the love of his life, and that next year were married on May 20th 1967. In 1971 they welcomed their daughter and blessing, Rijalynne Saari, into the world. Now they were a family of 3 artists. On their honeymoon they both promised one another they would go on a honeymoon every anniversary. They travelled, laughed, and celebrated their love every year without fail, until Dave’s journey with Alzheimer’s started to make that difficult.

Dave worked for 47 years with Johnson Controls as a model maker where he received numerous patents for his innovative designs. He made a lot of good friends during his time there, learned a lot and had a lot fun. Throughout his life, Dave pursued many interests such as hiking, carpentry, sculpting and 3-dimensional design using a wide variety of materials. He was an avid reader, and life-long learner studying numerous topics. You could always find him eager to lend a hand with a smile, or offering a bit of wisdom or fun when needed. The biggest joy of his life was making people laugh, right up to his last days.

He is survived by his wife, Charlene; his daughter Rijalynne (Drew); granddaughter Lyan Petersen (Kaeden) and great granddaughter Aniiya; Sister-in-law, Barbara Thirion; God-daughter Kristin Hlay (Matt) and their daughters Kylie and Kayla, Sister-in-law Mary Kettner and nieces Amy (Sean) and Melinda (Chris); Brother-in-law Carl Rewolinski and nephews Dan (Nora), Joe, and Jake; Sister-in-law Donna Eggers and nieces Aysha (David) and Tomrah, nephew Brian Kettner (Amy) and niece Sandra Whitney (Peter) and many other family members and friends that were near and dear to him.

Remember Dave as he would want it- with a joyful story, a smile, or a laugh.