David M. Bellofatto, age 46 of Wayne, died peacefully on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.

David was born in Montclair, the second of four children. Raised in Little Falls, he was a graduate of Passaic Valley High School, Class of 1986.

If injuries were worn as a badge of honor, David would have been highly decorated well before adult hood. One day while at work, David’s mother received a call that he had been involved in an accident while riding his moped. This came as a great surprise to her since she didn’t even know he had a moped. (He bought it without permission and kept it at a friend’s house). When she arrived at the hospital she refused to sign authorization for him to receive stitches until he promised to sell that moped. Then there was the time that he was exuberantly riding his bicycle which he won from a contest at the local McDonald’s, David got his pants stuck in the chain. Flying over the handlebars, he landed on his head and sustained a major concussion. His propensity for accidents didn’t cease after childhood and the best story of all took place one Father’s Day. David was out on his WaveRunner at Lake Wallenpaupack in PA when, as he described it, he was accosted by a “rogue wave.” He sustained a badly-sprained ankle but refused to take the crutches because “they weren’t necessary.”

Following high school, David attended RETS Institute of Technology and soon landed a job as a photocopier technician. Then he met the girl he would one day marry. Her name was Sue Van Saun and they met thanks to an introduction by one of her friends. Their first date was down the Jersey shore at Seaside Heights. Apparently, David was impressed by this young lady with whom he shared the same birthday. Not long after that first date, he invited Sue to go on vacation with him to the Bahamas. They fell in love and dated for a year-and-a-half. Then he broke up with her only to ask her out again six months later. On their first reunion date which took place at Chili’s Restaurant, David presented Sue with a beautiful ring and a request for her hand in marriage. She said yes and wedding plans were put into place. Meanwhile, while continuing to fix copy machines, David started working part time at a little start-up company called Courier Car Rental, Inc. in Wayne.

Sue and David eventually married on Saturday, April 2, 1994 at Grace Church in Wayne. Following a reception at the Brownstone House in Paterson, the newlyweds honeymooned in Aruba before settling into their new apartment in Little Falls.

A dedicated and goal-oriented man, David worked seven days a week and that same year that he married, he became Courier Car Rental’s third full time employee. David was proud of his accomplishments working his way up to Vice President while helping the company grow to over forty employees and from one location with one hundred cars to three locations with seven hundred cars.

A year later he and Sue moved to a condo in Pompton Plains and stayed there for four years. Then they welcomed baby Jenna and it was time to move again. So in 1999, the family moved to Wayne where he, Sue and Jenna welcomed baby Sammie and where David remained to the present.

David had a tremendous hunger for life! You could say that his life’s motto was “If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all.” One of his favorite places to be was at the family cabin at Lake Wallenpaupack in PA. It was the perfect place for him to go fishing, riding on his go-cart or taking the girls out on the WaveRunner or tubing behind his Chaparral boat. Every weekend featured laughter filled nights by the fire pit and the sky filled with fireworks. In the winter he loved snowmobiling or even plowing snow with his Polaris Ranger quad. Knowing David’s accident-prone past, it was pure comedy to his family that he was once approached by the locals to be part of the lake’s safety patrol. One of David’s other passions was gambling, and he was really good at winning! If he won, he always took the winnings in the form of a check so he wouldn’t spend it away. He always liked to go to Bally’s in Atlantic City, at least until he discovered casinos like Mount Airy Lodge in the Poconos and Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem – both near the cabin in Lake Wallenpaupack. And when those were even too far, there was always online gambling.

David’s family used words like proud, strong willed, driven, energetic (he seldom slept more than five hours a night) to describe him. He was honest in his opinions and he told them to you straight up, but the bottom line was that he was a good man. Down to earth, he took things in stride – like the time his brother-in-law Don’s truck slipped out of gear, rolled down the hill into Sue’s car then continued to roll into David’s garage full of all his “man toys”. He loved his “three” girls–Sue, Jenna and Sammie and would do anything for them. Even as he courageously fought his illness for the last six years, he preferred to do it quietly, never complaining and never wanting anyone to feel sorry for him.

David was the beloved husband of Sue; much loved father of Jenna and Sammie; dear son of Fran Mongioi of Wharton and Ralph Bellofatto of Little Falls; dear brother of Joseph Bellofatto of Oak Ridge, Francine and husband Nick Taylor of Columbus, OH, and Kristine and husband John Schiller of Denville; much loved brother-in-law of Dr. Robert and wife Nancy Van Saun of State College, PA, Richard and wife Debbie Van Saun of Wantage, Theodore Van Saun of Wayne, Cindy and husband Donald Hughes of Jefferson, Randall and wife Lorri Van Saun of Wayne, Thomas and wife Maria Van Saun of Westport, MA, Wendy Deppa of Wayne, Debbie and husband Rory Buchanan of Ringwood, and Daniel Van Saun of Hendersonville, NC; and wonderful uncle of numerous nieces and nephews. David was predeceased by his dear step-father Ronald Mongioi, and his brother-in-law Thomas Deppa.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Grace Church, 981 Preakness Ave., Wayne, NJ 07470, would be appreciated.