David J. Splawn passed away Thursday, April 13, 2023, at the age of 85 in Campbell, California. He was born in Azle, Texas, just outside of Fort Worth, Texas in 1938. David was preceded in death by his mother, Ruby Bielss and stepfather, Rayburn Bielss. He is survived by his wife, Kerstin Splawn; daughter, Michelle Ellinor and son-in law, Lawson Ellinor; son, Michael Splawn and daughter-in-law, Janice Adamson; son, John Splawn and fiancé Rebecca Fox; daughter, Emelie Splawn; brother, Rayburn Bielss, Jr. and sister-in-law, Elaine Bielss; and four grandchildren, Blake and Connor Ellinor and Annalise and Niklas Obeso and numerous loving relatives and close family friends.

He was a gifted engineer who worked for over 50 years living and making life-long friends in many communities including Houston, Texas, Stockholm, Sweden, Alexandria, Virginia, Gebenstorf, Switzerland, and San Jose, California. Later in his career, he started his own company, David Splawn & Associates and finally retired to Saratoga, California where he continued to work part time into his seventies.

David loved spending time with his family.  Two of his favorite birthdays were his 70 ^th birthday where he celebrated with family in Colorado showing everyone, he could still ski the most challenging slopes and his 75 ^th birthday where he celebrated a fun-filled weekend in San Francisco taking his family to some of his favorite places.

He also had many passions which included travel, skiing, photography and sailing. He and Kerstin loved to travel all over Europe, the United States and Japan. David took up skiing at the age of 48 when he and Kerstin moved to Switzerland.  He loved the sport and continued skiing in California and Colorado. David took up photography in his thirties and took amazing photographs of his many friends, family and the wonderful places he traveled to throughout his life. David loved sailing where he spent many happy hours on boats with family and friends in the Galveston Bay area.

A celebration of David's life will be held privately by the family. The family wishes to thank all of David's caring friends for their kind thoughts and a special thanks to the amazing employees of Palm Villas who took great care of David in the last months of his life. Donations may be made in his name to the Alzheimer's Association ( https://act.alz.org ).