Before he passed away, David Weiner penned his obituary. It follows:
David Rodriguez Weiner, born on Feb. 16, 1954, in San Antonio, died on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Dallas on a quiet morning, after futzing around with ocular melanoma for two or three years. He is predeceased by his loving and devoted parents, Irving and Laura Weiner, who did everything humanly possible to make sure that he became a lawyer, which he did, in spite of himself.
He is survived by everyone who outlived him, including his beloved wife and life partner of almost 35 years, Danielle; his remarkable children, Sadie Weiner and Sol Weiner, the lights of his life of whom he was immeasurably proud; his son-in-law, Zach Wineburg, a real mensch; and his grandson, Benny Irving Wineburg, a source of pure joy. He is also survived by his dear friend, Roy Hoffman, who was like a brother to him, only nicer, based on what he could tell about brothers.
Somehow, he managed to earn his undergraduate degree from Tulane University in 1975 and his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1979. After serving as a briefing attorney at the Court of Criminal Appeals and as an Assistant Federal Public Defender, he practiced on his own in San Antonio for nine years. In 1990, he and his family moved to Dallas, where he took a position doing the appellate work at a private law firm. In 1995, he became a sole practitioner again, and in 2014 he formed a law partnership with his good friend, Brent Rosenthal. He was board certified in civil appellate law for over 30 years. Eventually, he retired so that he could spend more time with his doctors.
David ran some marathons, including Boston; he wrote and self-published a novel (still available on Amazon); and he ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Dallas Court of Appeals in 2004 (too soon for a Democrat). He served as a Democratic precinct chair, on his synagogue’s Chevra Kadisha (burial society), and as an ESL teacher at Literacy Achieves. In his later years, he came to regard himself as a humorist, even if others rarely did. He wrote some material for his funeral and gave it the title “Readings from the Notebook of David — A Boxed Comedy Set.” (When you get the chance, please let him know how it went over.) He wanted to remind everyone of the following: “While you’re alive, to thine own self be true, because when you’re gone, to thine own self you’re through. L’chaim!”
Donations can be made in David’s honor to Literacy Achieves, Dallas.