The world doesn’t create men like Mr. Dave Foreman anymore. With a heavy heart, the AccuTRANS family announced his passing on January 22nd, 2023. Dave was an executive, a mentor, a southern gentleman, a fisherman, a firefighter, a jack-of-all-trades, and an outdoorsman with the gift of gab and a heart of gold. Still, Dave could rough it out with the best of them, whether on a barge or working with a tractor.

“Dave was a second dad for me. I moved from Louisiana to Texas and didn’t know what I was doing. I was just 20. They say God puts people in your life for a reason, and I needed that direction. I needed him in my life,” Brandon, the VP of Logistics at AccuTRANS, elaborated on the impact Dave had on so many like himself.

All great men deserve to be celebrated, and, above all, Mr. Dave was a great man who lived his life to the fullest and never slowed down. We feel truly blessed that God put Dave Foreman in our lives. Join us in celebrating Mr. Dave’s life and legacy:

The Life of Dave Foreman: Faith, Family, and Hunting

Dave Foreman was a man of the world, but at his core, he was a Georgia Boy, which laid the foundation for the man he would become.

Mr. Dave grew up in Savannah, Georgia and studied at the University of Georgia briefly before joining the Coast Guard. However, Dave yearned for something different and soon transitioned to the marine industry, working for Hollywood Marine.

Mr. Dave worked his way up from being a deckhand to being in the wheelhouse to overseeing and designing the first-ever training academy for the marine industry and traveling to Washington D.C. to pass legislation requiring a certified tankerman course, which his program was the first to offer. Mr. Dave eventually became the Executive VP of AccuTRANS.

Still, a person’s career does not define them. Mr. Dave was as authentic and genuine as could be and treated everyone the same, whether they were a CEO or a plumber. Everyone that met Dave loved him.

“One of Mr. Dave’s most special gifts was that he made you feel heard and special whenever he talked to you,” Brian, a tankerman at AccuTRANS, remembered.

A man of faith, Mr. Dave was married for 57 years, had two children, and preached at his local church. Mr. Dave was also an avid outdoorsman and was one of the youngest recorded people to work in taxidermy for the Smithsonian Museum, specializing in birds.

Mr. Dave experienced so many different cultures and types of people that all shaped who he was. Dave even went to Africa on multiple occasions to hunt and held an annual hunting trip to Canada before he passed that required days of horseback riding well into his 80s.

Dave’s Legacy at AccuTRANS and Beyond

Before AccuTRANS, Mr. Dave’s career in training when he began shaping the maritime industry. Everyone, whether deckhands, tankermen, or captains, went through his training. He helped countless people become the men and women they are today.

“Recently, Dave had a boat named after him. It’ll be a living symbol of his legacy. People will see it across the country and remember his lessons when they see Dave’s name on that vessel,” Brian explained.

Mentoring is Dave’s legacy. His life lessons will continue to resonate within households, hunting and fishing camps, and the wheelhouse and barge decks of America for generations to come.

At AccuTRANS, Dave dedicated himself to visibility and consistency and was particularly important to creating our celebrated culture, which mirrors his core values: Treat others as you want to be treated.

He made it a point to attend every safety meeting, even if it was just 4 people in attendance, from Corpus Christi to Beaumont, and he always got facetime with each employee and learned from everyone he spoke to because he cared about what they had to say.

“I’ll always remember Dave coming into my office and shaking my hand, always wishing us Merry Christmas and always having time for a conversation, whether for a few minutes or a few hours,” remembered Brandon.

In another life, Dave would have been a politician. He was level-headed, steadfast in his values, and never let adversity take him off track. He was the ultimate leader.

“On a hunting trip, Dave told me, ‘If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for everything.’ He taught me you have to have values, so the situation doesn’t control you,” Brandon said.

Join AccuTRANS in Memorializing the Much Beloved Mr. Dave Foreman

It is always deeply saddening when someone passes away, but people live on in our thoughts, prayers, and hearts, and Dave Foreman will continue to live on through each generation of tankermen to come. From AccuTRANS to the entire marine industry, Dave is a crucial part of history, which is the mark of great men.

We encourage you to join us in memorializing Mr. Dave Foreman. Instead of flowers, the Foreman Family asks that we make donations to the St. Jude Foundation or another charity of your choice, and we invite you to share memories of Mr. Dave on our Facebook page.