David Daws (1948 – 2012)
David Daws was two when his family moved to Whitehorse. His parents were Albert and Florence Daws and he was the eldest of siblings Patricia, Laurance, Roberta, and Nora. David worked at a number of jobs including being an accountant, an outreach worker, and as a swamper at the White Pass and Yukon Route freight yards. He endured physical pain in his legs and ankle after a car crash and a bad parachute jump. In his twenties, David struggled with alcohol and sought help in Inuvik when he was thirty. He returned to the Yukon and worked for Parks Canada at Haines Junction where he started volunteering with the Catholic Church.1)
Father David Daws was ordained in 1986. He helped people on the street and in the Alcohol Anonymous community and went to work at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre. He served in parishes in Whitehorse, Carmacks, Faro, Teslin, and Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Father Daws moved to Abbotsford in 2008 to be closer to medical care. He is remembered for his dedication to others.2)