David Parker Ivey

David Parker Ivey, 81, passed away at Mission Hospital on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

He was born in Hickory, N.C., August 10, 1938, to Isabelle Parker and Elbert Allred Ivey. After his father’s untimely death in 1942, his family moved to Sarasota, Florida, where he spent most of his childhood. He graduated from the Asheville School for Boys, where he played many sports and became captain of the soccer team his senior year. He graduated from Duke University in 1960 with a degree in accounting; he played for three years on Duke’s soccer team. From 1960 to 1965, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, first in Iceland, where he met his future wife, Thorunn Kjerulf, and then in Charleston, S.C., on a minesweeper, the U.S.S. Affray, which took him to the Caribbean, across the Atlantic and to the Mediterranean.

After his military service, he joined his stepfather, Ken McCandless, at Carolina Business Equipment in Asheville, where he served as secretary-treasurer and then president. He was an active member of the National Office Machine Dealers Association, serving in leadership positions at the state, regional and national levels. He sold the business in the late 1980s.

After a year off, Mr. Ivey bought in to a small wine distributing company, combining his business acumen with his love of good wine. Over the next 10 years, he grew the business to 25 employees and helped introduce many fine and “boutique” wines to Western North Carolina. In 1998, he sold Asheville Beverage to Mutual Distributing out of Raleigh, but he continued to serve as branch manager until he retired in 2001.

Mr. Ivey was active in civic affairs, including the Asheville Jaycees, the Asheville Sales and Marketing Executives Club, the American Red Cross Disaster Response Team and the Asheville Civitan Club. He was a graduate of Leadership Asheville and served on the UNCA Foundation board, where he established the Thorunn and David Ivey Scholarship Fund for International Students, in honor of his wife, a former foreign exchange student and a UNCA graduate. He was a member of Central United Methodist Church for over 60 years, attended the Growing in Faith Sunday School Class, and served on many of the church’s committees and boards.

He loved life, learning, nature, music, the Blue Ridge mountains, Duke basketball and travel. A gourmet chef, he loved cooking for friends and family and sharing his collection of fine wines. With his wife Thorunn, he enjoyed weekend hiking on local mountain trails. In their 54 years of marriage, they visited every continent but Antarctica. He was a devoted and loving father and his children’s biggest fan.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children Eleanor Ivey Campbell of Asheville and George David Ivey (Laura) of Flat Rock, grandchildren Margaret Ivey Campbell and Walter David Ivey, his brothers George Elbert Ivey (Betsy) and Kenneth Parker McCandless (Jeanie) and five nieces and nephews in the United States.

A memorial service will be held at Central United Methodist Church in downtown Asheville at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, February 21. The family will receive friends following the service in the fellowship hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to MANNA Food Bank, Haywood Street Congregation or one’s favorite charity.

The family would like to thank Mission Hospital’s pulmonary and ICU staff for their care and expertise and their many friends and family for their love and support.

Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian is assisting the family.