Dave Girves

Dave Girves was a Columbus resident who died in his home on January 15th at the age of 71.  Most of Buster's regular readers probably don't recognize the name.  But many local people remember Dave.

He came from Akron, from a family of restaurateurs.  His grandfather Gus and father Ted owned and operated the Girves Brown Derby chain in Ohio.  The old Columbus location on Morse Rd. is gone, but there are still seven locations operating in northeast Ohio.

His father sold his interest in the chain, moved to Columbus and bought into the Jai Lai Restaurant as a partner.  Located on Olentangy River Rd. at 5th Ave., the Jai Lai was an old-school classic -- the largest restaurant in Columbus at 9000 square feet, with seating for over 1000.  In its hey-day, it featured a stage with live entertainment and dancing.  The Jai Lai was a favorite of Ohio State coach Woody Hayes.  Both Woody and Earle Bruce after him used the place for weekly press conferences, and for Friday team dinners before home games.  Famous menu items included its prime rib, oyster stew and salted dinner rolls.

With a Cornell degree in restaurant management, Dave ran the Jai Lai from 1965 until its eventual closing in 1996.  He was the sole owner for the last decade.  But that's not how I knew him.

I was introduced to Dave Girves by a friend in 2011.  He said we might have some things in common.  We were both big supporters of President Obama, and we were of similar minds on healthcare reform, immigration reform, marriage equality, labor rights, women's reproductive rights, voting rights, environmental protection, clean energy, support for public education, sensible gun control policy, etc.  You get the idea.

We ran into each other at several local Obama speeches and rallies in 2012.  I worked a couple of phone-bank call nights at his house.  Dave and I were part of a small group that went to Sen. Rob Portman's local office in 2013 to ask the Senator to support federal background checks for gun purchases.  We were both bloggers and sometimes re-posted each other's stuff.

Arrested in support of striking janitors

Although we shared the same politics, I could not match Dave in effort and energy.  (And he was the retiree.)  His near-constant activism and volunteerism made my puny presence look like nothing.  He not only talked the talk, he walked the walk, all the while remaining calm and respecting differing opinions (in a way I can only aspire to).




















A remarkable thing about Dave was that he was a Republican for much of his adult life, a fact he acknowledged with some amusement.  It gradually dawned on this career businessman that GOP economic policy was a myth, a bunch of trickle-down hokum, and the rest of the Republican agenda boiled down to being a mean, greedy prick.

So, just like that, he became a gung-ho Democrat, satisfied in his heart and working his ass off for President Obama and progressive issues.  That's how he happily spent the last portion of his life.  That's the Dave I knew, albeit briefly.  I wish I could have known him better.

I went to his memorial service Sunday afternoon at the Ohio Democratic Party headquarters downtown.  It was a fitting celebration of his life, the room packed beyond capacity with people privileged to have known this good man.

His blog is still available at davegirves.wordpress.com, and will also remain in "Buster's Links."  Old bloggers never die.  We live on out there in the ether, but our pageviews slowly dwindle.  Peace, Dave!