David J. Black Jr, 55, of Renton, Washington, passed away unexpectedly at home June 26, 2023. David is survived by his parents Dave Sr (Evelyn) Black, sister Heather (Jason) Gauthier, life partner Laura Kusiak, Aunt Mildred Lipski, Uncle Carl Bruske, Uncle Dennis (Donna) Black, Aunt Arlene (Robert) Klish, Aunt Donna Scarlet, and his nephews Jacob and Tyson Gauthier, and numerous cousins.

He was born to Dave and Evelyn Black in Traverse City Michigan on July 18, 1967. David attended Traverse City Central High School and graduated class of 1985. David moved to Chicago to attend DeVry Institute of Technology and graduated 1988 with a BS in Electronics Engineering Technology. He was hired by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis soon after as a flight test instrumentation technician. He supported various military flight test programs all over the country. He was promoted to engineer when he joined the Joint Strike Fighter flight test team in Seattle in 1997 when Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged. After the JSF program, David worked in the Boeing commercial flight test organization in Seattle until he retired in 2020.

In 1989, he met his life partner, Laura Kusiak, in the hallway at work. They worked together on several flight test programs and finally started dating in 1998. They had many adventures together over the years and were together for 25 years.

A Celebration of Life gathering will be held on July 29, 2023 at 12pm at Soos Creek Botanical Garden located at 29308 132nd Ave SE Auburn, WA.