‘What did Dad do for work? He played golf’

Golfers who played regularly in Orange County’s club championships knew of David Speaks.

He hoisted the club champion’s trophy twice -- in 1961 and 1966 -- at Mesa Verde Country Club.

Friends often called David Speaks at home with questions on how to improve their swings. Golfing companies sent him free clubs to try out. And Speaks enjoyed taking clients and customers out on the links.

“The joke was: ‘What did Dad do for work? He played golf,’” said Stan Speaks, David Speaks’ son. “He loved the sport more than anything else.”

David Speaks, a former Costa Mesa resident, died Nov. 4 of natural causes. He was 86.

Born in Kentucky, David Speaks lettered in baseball, basketball and football in high school. He played two years of football at a community college and was drafted by baseball’s Cincinnati Reds as a catcher.

But a nagging knee injury kept David Speaks from excelling at the sport. It also prevented him from joining the military during World War II.

Instead, David Speaks moved with a friend to Newport News, Va., and took a job as a welder in a shipyard. He also worked on aircraft.

Speaks met his future wife, Lola, in Newport News. They were married in 1941 and recently celebrated their 63rd anniversary.

“He was a big, handsome man,” Lola Speaks said.

In the early 1950s, the couple and their two children moved to Southern California. David Speaks worked first in a Long Beach shipyard.

The family moved to Costa Mesa around 1962. They were one of the first to purchase a home inside Mesa Verde Country Club before the golf course was completed.

David Speaks was a regular on the course, often known to put strips of iron on the bottom of his clubs to add length to his drives.

“He was always messing with stuff,” Lola Speaks said. “He had a great swing as it was. It was smooth; he wasn’t a hacker.”

David Speaks never seriously thought about turning pro, even though he was a scratch golfer. He played nearly every weekend day while he was running Spartan Manufacturing, a Garden Grove-based company that made precision screw machine parts for companies such as General Electric.

He enjoyed spending time at the store, family members said. But what he really enjoyed was taking anyone associated with his business to the golf course.

“He won over friends and made business deals over golf,” Stan Speaks said. “He was real personable.”

On a recent trip to a convenience store to buy a lottery ticket, David Speaks was gone for more than 30 minutes.

“I asked him where he had been,” Stan Speaks said. “He said, ‘Oh, I must have spoken to 20 people along the way.’”

David Speaks’ sons took over operations of their father’s company before it was sold in 1985.

David and Lola moved to Oregon and had a home near Palm Springs. He was also a club champion in La Quinta. The couple recently moved back to Costa Mesa to be closer to family.

In his final years, David Speaks played only nine holes at a time and often just went to the driving range. His health was fading, but he never gave up on golf.

“That’s what he did,” Stan Speaks said.

DAVID SPEAKS

Born: April 2, 1919

Died: Nov. 4, 2005

Memorial service: Held for family and friends