David "Doc" Rohrich

David “Doc” A. Rohrich, 57, Mandan, died June 24, 2017 at Sanford Health, Bismarck. A memorial service will be held beginning at 5 pm Thursday, June 29th, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck with a rosary beginning at 6:30 pm. Since he can no longer tell you the same story five times, he invites you to come and share your stories with his family one last time. Following the vigil service Thursday night, we will be celebrating his life in the lower level of the Mandan Eagles Club, 1400 N Collins Avenue and invite friends and family to stop, have a beer and shot of Black Velvet to send him off in style. There will be no burial as cremation will be taking place. David was born in Fargo, ND on August 4th, 1959 to John C. and Marie (Vetsch) Rohrich. He grew up in Strasburg, ND – as was apparent by his thick German accent – and graduated from Strasburg High School in 1977, where he was one hell of a cornet player and participated in other ‘extra-curricular activities.’ He was a car buff, could make any car squeal and loved ‘cool’ toys. After graduation, he moved to Fargo and worked for Berckley Mercury Lincoln Ford. While cruising main in Strasburg on one of his weekend’s home, he met the love of his life, Amy Fahlsing – who coincidently was on a date with his best friend, John Weber. Dave promised her, “two weeks from tonight at 7:30” he’d be at her house to pick her up. This was one of few instances he actually was on time for something and their romance began. In the spring of 1978, he moved to Mandan and worked as a mechanic for Marv Zander at Mid-state Used Cars. On December 21, 1979, with three pair of coveralls on & two dollars for gas, he headed west on his motorcycle for a shot at a better life. By the grace of God, Charlie Wood found him and gave him a job as a roustabout with Apache Oil Corp. He later worked for Circle K Construction, but continued to be life-long friends with Charlie and Barbara Wood. On October 6, 1981, Dave and Amy were married in South Heart. In the spring of 1983, he and Marv Zander started Broadway Sales in Bismarck, but he eventually went back to what he knew and went to work for Lindemann Construction as a heavy equipment operator. After Lindemann was sold, Dave worked for Mariner Construction and was then hired by Falkirk Mine to work on one of the Reclamation Crews. He was very proud of the fact that he received his Strip Mine Foreman certification. Throughout his life, he ran every piece of heavy equipment, but retired from Falkirk due to his COPD in June 2013 as a finish operator on Blade #559. After his retirement, his days were made of up of sitting on the ‘perch’ or East Veranda, watching hours of reality TV (yes, we know we made a better door than a window), rummaging, fishing with Damian (although we never saw any fish come home), finding vehicles he could buy cheap, fix and flip, becoming the best ‘house mouse’ (well, looking for the best grocery sales – everyone has to love canned ravioli, right?), calling each of us during our workday, and seeing Jerry at the drive-thru in Mandan for his daily visit (thanks for always sending a receipt home for mom to add to the check register), and of course Facebook on the iPad (sometimes you wished he didn’t know how to tell you were online at 2:30 in the morning, but he’d quick message you ‘Doing’). Last but not least sitting in the kitchen, drinking a traveler and telling the same story five times was a daily favorite. He was always Amy’s rock and anchor and promised her he wouldn’t let her go first. He made her wait for everything, but now it’s his time to wait for her. Dave is survived by his spouse of nearly 36 years, Amy; three kids, Melissa (Ross) Frohlich, Amber (Josh) Spurlin, and Joshua David; grandchildren, Maggie, Marie, Emily and Kinder; his siblings Dan (Barbara), Doris (James) Wald, Debbie (Karry) Pearson, Dolores Rohrich and John (Rhena); as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents John & Marie Rohrich; grandparents Clemens & Gertrude (Bossert) Rohrich and Balzer & Bernadine (Geffre) Vetsch; many aunts and uncles; his nephew Jason Wald; his father-in-law Harold; sister-in-law Beverly Tanner; brothers-in-law Joaquin Llerenas and Ray Kelsch, and niece Luz Simmons. We are comforted by the fact that he is with his family and was greeted by his good friends Richard “Bucky” Bachmeier, Charlie Wood and Dale Steiner. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the American Lung Association can be made in his honor.