On December 28, 2025, David G. Irving, Jr took his final vacation. Exactly one week later, Donna Irving, his wife of over 60 years, joined him for the trip on January 4th, 2026. Clearly, it was a match made to meet in heaven.

Donna Lefebvre (Irving) was born in 1944 to Donald and Mary Lefebvre. David Irving Jr was born in 1945 to David and Rose Irving. Most of Donna’s childhood and schooling was in the Bath and Portland, ME, area while Dave grew up in Gorham, ME. Both were blessed with close families and a loving and caring upbringing. 

They met at The Portland Drive-In Theater in 1962. Donna (a graduate of Deering High School Class of ’62) and Dave (a 63’ graduate of Gorham High School) were married on July 4th, 1964, after he proposed with a set of rings he’d purchased at Stultz Auto Parts while picking up parts for his 1962 Ford Galaxie.

Donna worked full time soldering electronics at Fairchilds in South Portland while Dave attended SMVTI from 1963-1965. He graduated with a degree in Automotive Technology. Dave’s instructor, Jim Johnson, actually created an award for Donna to recognize her support and encouragement while Dave earned his degree; it was called “Pushing Your Hubby Through”. Dave chose to enlist into the Air Force in 1965 and not wait for the draft. Basic training proved to be unusually easy for him, as they weren’t allowed to exercise very hard due to a meningitis outbreak that had spread on the base. In spite of an easy start, he worked hard and excelled in the Air Force. He then applied for the warrant officer program in the US Army and, when accepted, became the youngest warrant officer in the history of the program. He built up an entire company in Fort Bragg, getting them ready for a tour in Vietnam. After the tour was canceled and the company was decommissioned, he was sent to South Korea to run a company on the DMZ for fifteen months. He had a colorful way of describing how cold he was on the DMZ during his time, which is not fit for print but still makes me smile. He was very proud of having honorably served his country. 

They welcomed a son, David, in 1966 and a daughter, Jennifer, in 1972. 

In the early 1970’s, Dave and Donna settled on Back Nippin Road in Buxton, ME. Their house was welcoming to all of their friends and family, as well as their children’s friends. A place everyone was welcomed to as a second home. It wasn’t unusual for the kids to come home to find friends already visiting with their parents and catching up on life. Together, the two owned and ran a successful automotive damage appraisal company, Irving’s Appraisal Service, as well as a classic car dealership, Country Classics Auto Sales. Classic cars were their passion, and any story they ever told was based on which specific car they’d owned at the time. There was never a reflection of fond memories without first prefacing it with which car was in the driveway at that moment. 

Dave may have taken care of the cars and the laughs, but Donna not only worked doing the bookkeeping, the billing, and the scheduling; she also held the fort down by caring for the horses, dogs, cats, parakeets, rabbits, fish, and even Oreo the Skunk. Oh yeah… and us kids, too! She loved animals. They all seemed to gravitate to her and her undeniable compassion. She even once gave CPR to a fish, and, yes, it survived!. She was a real out of the box thinker that could problem solve anything in the most unique and creative ways. There was nothing she couldn’t accomplish. She once wanted to re-arrange the kitchen and Dave was “going to get around to it”. Donna, the ever the efficient human, couldn’t wait and Dave came home one day to a completely Donna-Demo’d-Kitchen with the project already in the works. Another time, the leach field backed up, and Donna dug an entirely new one wearing her tank top and snowmobile boots. That was just another normal day at the Irving’s. 

“She may be tiny, but oh, is she fierce!” 

Since Donna was never the bake sale kind of gal, she came up with a fundraising idea for the school’s athletic boosters club and, in 1980, The Bonny Eagle Car Show was born. Donna and Dave were innovative in how they promoted this “fundraiser”, eventually laying the groundwork for many other school communities to follow suit. With the help of friends and their community, the car show became a huge success! They took great pride in their accomplishment. And it raised a heck of a lot more money than any bake sale ever could. 

“Shhhh…. On a quiet night you can hear Fords rust……” 

Their knowledge of anything with four wheels not only gave them great joy, but it led them to many wonderful friends; the kind that became family. Belonging to the Classic Chevy Club, our family would travel the country and Canada in the most proud creation of the MANY cars they owned over the years; “Sno-Mad”, a 1957 Chevrolet Nomad that Dave built upon a 4x4 Chevy Blazer chassis. We brought Sno-Mad to many car shows and picked up many new friends along the way; quite literally as people would be broken down in their classic car or souped-up hot rod and Donna and Dave would stop to help, the driver eventually hopping on to join their convoy. Dave later worked as a manager at ACME Auto Body in South Portland, ME where he made many more friends over the years. 

Family life was always a priority for Dave and Donna. The love and pride they had for us kids was unwavering. That pride carried over to their grandson, Cameron, and was indescribable. He lit up their world. He spent a lot of time helping them with their house and cars. He and Dad would go on adventures to pick up cars quite often. When they’d get back, Cameron would have dinner and listen to them reminiscing about all of the shenanigans that were had over the years. He’d listen intently (even if it was the eleventh time he heard that story) because those stories and time together are priceless. 

Then there are their other kids, Coreen and Rob. Some could argue they liked these two the best. They saw the unconditional love and balance Coreen gave David and Rob gave Jen. It was a comfort and blessing for Mom and Dad to experience their kids finding loving and caring relationships similar to their own. 

They often enjoyed lunches with their sisters and brother-in-laws. It was always fun for us to join them and listen to the jokes and the sibling shenanigans over a good meal. Dad being the rascal that always had a joke, starting hearty conversations by ribbing his sister’s with a wink and a smile. 

Dave and Donna are survived by their favorite son; David Irving and wife Coreen Irving, their favorite daughter; Jennifer Compton (Irving) and husband Rob Compton, Jr, and favorite grandson; Cameron Wood, who they never stopped expressing their love and support for... Of course, we are their only son, daughter, and grandson, but this was a running joke in our family.

Dave leaves behind his much loved sisters, Mary Fantucchio and Meadow Welch and her husband Mahlon. Donna leaves behind her much loved sister Dianne Herrick (Lefebvre) and her husband Craig. Dave was preceded in death by his sister Nancy Lowell and is survived by Nancy’s husband, Dick Lowell. 

Dave and Donna also both leave behind MANY loved cousins, nieces, nephews, family, friends, and pets throughout the USA and the Caribbean. 

Us kids would like to thank you all for your love, support, and condolences. 

Also, David would like to thank Jennifer for all that she has done to help us get through this difficult time together and please recognize that most of what you just read came from her heart. 

There will be a celebration of life for Dave and Donna this summer in 2026.