May 14, 2024

Linn County News

Published May 15, 2024

David Howard McNabb, 76, passed away May 11, 2024 at home in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. The son of a farmer, Dave was born June 4, 1947, to Henry and Alice (Jackson) McNabb at Pleasanton.

Education and research were always the focus of McNabb’s life, which began in a one-room schoolhouse north of Mound City, and didn’t end until an aggressive brain tumor felled him while he was still actively working. Growing up in Trading Post, he graduated from Pleasanton High School and attended Kansas State University prior to transferring to the University of Missouri where he received both a BS and MS in Forestry. He received a PhD in Soil Science from Oregon State University, during which time he also worked as an extension watershed specialist. Moving to the Edmonton, Alberta area in 1990, McNabb was hired as a soil physicist and researcher, and lectured at the University of Alberta. During this time, in addition to numerous other appointments, he was named as the Canadian representative to the United Nation’s Team of Specialists, where he served four years meeting and lecturing in Europe and New Zealand.

McNabb has been published more than 100 times and awarded two patents, one for soil remediation and the second for a deep cultivation Ripper Plough for soil tillage, which he then began manufacturing and selling through his company ForestSoil Science Ltd. Most recently he was presented the prestigious Tree of Life award by the Canada Institute of Forestry for his significant contributions to sustainable forests.

While McNabb was a passionate man of science, he was also a man of deep faith and served the church in many capacities. As a man of the arts, McNabb was a master woodworker who designed his own projects, which he produced with exemplary craftsmanship. Over the years he was an avid bicycler and hiker.

He leaves behind his wife and devoted partner, Irene Obrok; sisters Anna Jean Charles, of Parsons, and Karen Hawkins, of Cumming, Ga.; as well as a devoted and loving extended family.

While a funeral and internment will be held in Edmonton, a local celebration of life is planned for Pleasanton at a later date.