David Der-Arakelian was born in NJ in 1975 to his loving parents John and Ruth Ann. Unfortunately, his home life began to deteriorate and his parents divorced when he was in preschool. David and his mother moved in with his grandmother, so she could help raise him. After a couple of years, Ruth Ann fell in love again. She eventually married Ron and moved David to Delaware to start their new family life. It was a tough transition, but David was resilient once again and began making friends and enjoying his new surroundings.
After only a couple of years in Delaware, Ruth Ann passed away suddenly leaving David to be raised primarily by his stepfather. David's biological father, John, soon decided that David should live with him, so he brought David to his home in Kentucky.
Unfortunately, his home life in Kentucky proved to be unstable. One fateful evening, when David was feeling scared and alone, he called his Uncle Paul in New Jersey. This one phone call changed the course of David's entire life. Uncle Paul contacted local authorities, flew down to Kentucky and returned to New Jersey with a frightened eleven-year-old boy. An intense custody battle ensued. The courts determined that it would be best for David to live with his Uncle Paul, Aunt Ruth, and their two daughters in New Jersey.
This was a major transition for David. He was once again moving to another state, but now he needed to learn to live with other children in the home, as well as attend one of the top public schools in New Jersey. However, this was the first time in a long time that David was part of a healthy, loving, and functional family. Along with all of the transitions, David got to experience his own new clothes, family vacations, and extracurricular activities. This is when he discovered one of his true loves… Football! He loved the game, and was a talented athlete, excelling from his Pop Warner team all the way to varsity in high school. While playing for the North Andover high school team, the Boston Globe named him player of the week several times. After graduating from North Andover High School, David joined the NAVY with aspirations of becoming a NAVY SEAL. He was eventually accepted into SEAL training but suffered a knee injury. Doctors reported that the injury would likely re-occur, so David served out his time in the NAVY.
David moved back home to New Jersey and got a job with an engineering company. He found a lot of his sports experiences, military experiences, work ethics, and Seal training gave him a competitive advantage within the company. David continued to be a hard worker. He would wake up at 4:30 am to go to the gym, go to work, attend community college classes, return home and start the whole process over again. Unfortunately, on the way home from an exam one October night, another driver lost consciousness and ran into David's car, killing him instantaneously.