David Elmore Verlander Jr.

David Elmore “Pete” Verlander, Jr. departed this world on September 2, at the age of 99. He was born in New Orleans on July 16, 1923, the youngest son of David Elmore Verlander and Mary Agnes Walter Verlander.

After attending Fortier High School, he enrolled in Tulane University, studying Business Administration. His college studies were interrupted by World War II, during which he enlisted in the U. S. Army, serving in the infantry in the South Pacific until its end. After the war he returned to Tulane, graduating in 1946. It was thereafter that he met the love of his life, Allie Wyler, a student at Newcomb College. They were married on June 26, 1948 and remained married and deeply devoted, rarely apart, until his death.

His career took him into the construction industry, first in New Orleans with R. P. Farnsworth Company and then moved him and his family to the Chicago area where he became president of A. L. Jackson Construction Company, and later of Verlander & Company. In 1974, he returned to the New Orleans area, where he worked for Halter Marine until his retirement.

He is survived by his wife of over 74 years, Allie Wyler Verlander, and by his six children, David E. Verlander III (Julie), Glese Ann Verlander, Jill Verlander Reed (Kenny), Peter Charles Verlander (Wendy), Paul Jeffrey Verlander (Monique), and Margaret Anne Verlander Vanchiere (John); as well as twenty-one grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

He loved boating, to work in his shop, to camp in the wilderness, Dixieland jazz, and dancing with Allie. He made a perfect Old Fashioned. He highly valued education, loved to read, and insisted that his children learn and think. In later years he became an accomplished baker, including making wedding cakes for most of his grandchildren who wed. But above all he was devoted to Allie and to his family, for all of whom he was an unfailing model of integrity, character, and reliability and who he always put emphatically first in his life’s priorities.

He was a truly good man, beloved by his family. He will be missed by this clan more than we have words to express, will live on vividly in our memories, will forever be a model for us. We are honored to have been his wife, his children, and his family. We celebrate his life.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at St. Clement of Rome Church, 4317 Richland Ave., Metairie, LA 70002 on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. Visitation at the church will begin at 10:30 a.m. Interment to follow in Greenwood Cemetery.

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