Remembering Dave Horning “Loader Dave”

It is with heavy heart that we acknowledge the unexpected passing of our dear friend and colleague, David Horning, aka Loader Dave. Dave’s passing is a great loss to those who knew him and his presence will be missed by many.

On behalf of the team at Suncor Energy Burrard Terminal, we have put together this Go Fund Me campaign and are seeking your support to help raise funds for a well deserved service for David.  

All money raised from this campaign will go directly to Dave’s son, Brandon to help aid the financial cost associated with Dave’s passing and take the weight off Brandon's shoulders as we grieve through this heartbreaking time.

Dave Horning, 57, was a dreamer and the best damn loader operator anyone could have asked for. For anyone who knew Dave and observed him operate his loader, I’m sure you’ll agree, he knew his equipment and the man had some fine skills.

Dave was beyond measure, a valued member of our work family.

We could always count on him to be there to get the job done while at the same time, putting a smile on our faces with his funny & outrageous stories.

We loved that he brought his big personality to work every day and despite him being rather bold and outspoken (of which I’m sure we received the reserved version of him), he filled our workdays with laughter and friendship.

He was someone we all counted on; come rain, shine, or SNOW, Dave was there.

He had an innate ability to forecast the weather, usually before the weather forecast was issued and boy, he absolutely loved the snow!

During the morning toolbox talks, Dave would sit there with a big smile on his face and rub his hands together,  “oh good, SNOW! I’d better start at 2 AM. It’s going to start around midnight!” he would say.

He would be so excited to come into work in the dead of night and start plowing with his loader.

Dave spent countless hours here exceeding what was expected of him. He never missed a day of work, and he never missed a chance to visit all his coworkers throughout the day either.

The friendships he built with all of us were that of family. He touched on every inch of our job site and helped anyone who asked. Our tank compounds have never looked so good! “Tank 76, we weren’t done with you yet!”

Dave was a hard working individual because he loved his job but he was so much more than just an operating engineer. He was a man that wore many hats. He was skilled in carpentry, masonry, and even mole catching..a well-rounded handyman. He always had to keep busy, and he pushed all of us to do the same.

Luke Brown said “when Dave started on January 11th, 2019 at Suncor Burrard Terminal with the maintenance team, he knew after the first week, we had gotten lucky”.

Dave, you left mighty big boots to fill and we’ll miss you dearly. Thank you for being our biggest team supporter.

All our love to you.

Once details of David’s service have been confirmed, we’ll let you all know.

Thank you