David William Otey, of Williamsburg, died March 27, 2014, at Williamsburg Landing, surrounded by his loving wife and children. He was 83.
He was born May 22, 1930, in Richmond and upon graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1947, he attended the College of William & Mary. While a college student he fell in love with and married his Georgia peach, Sarah Augusta Milner.
As a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy he was stationed on the USS Belle Grove and participated in the 1954 Operation Castle nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. In 1958, he returned to Williamsburg and, while working full-time, attended Marshall Wythe School of Law, graduating in 1973.
He began a law practice with his classmate, the Honorable Samuel T. Powell, and became a respected and successful member of the Williamsburg Bar Association and served as local counsel for Anheuser Busch. In 2007, the Williamsburg Bar Association honored Mr. Otey with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the legal community and the community at large.
Mr. Otey loved Williamsburg and loved serving the Williamsburg community. He remained a faithful alumnus of William and Mary, serving on the President’s Council and rarely missing a basketball or football game. He received the Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award in 1963, served as chairman of the Williamsburg United Way and of the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, president of the Kiwanis Club and chairman of the Virginia Consumer Finance Association, receiving their Distinguished Service Award in 1980.
In 2012 he was honored by BSA Troop 103 and served on the Vestry of the Bruton Parish Church, the Boards of Directors for the Williamsburg and Virginia Chambers of Commerce, Hospice and Williamsburg Landing. He was a member of the Rotary Club, the Commonwealth Club, the German Club and Cotillion Club.
Mr. Otey treasured his time with his family, attending the Williamsburg Community Chapel and sailing on the York and James rivers.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Augusta; children, David William Otey, Jr. and his wife, Ridie Moon Otey, Marion Otey Paine and her husband, John Paine and John Seixas Otey and his wife, Amy Pierce Otey; loving grandchildren, children of David, Jr., Sarah, Page, Taylor and David Otey, III, children of Marion, Neil and his wife, Carolyn Skancke Paine and David Paine and children of John, Maddie, Sam and Whit Otey; and cousins, Mary Lane Lewis and Sally McClure.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12, 2014, at Cedar Grove Cemetery, South Henry Street, Williamsburg.
Please leave online condolences for the family at Bucktrout Funeral Home.
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