In Memory Of: Mean Bee

72742 Views 59 Replies 48 Participants Last post by SKULLBOY, Aug 6, 2009

TehKing

Discussion Starter · Sep 2, 2008

David Somerset (Mean Bee #4) 1956 - 2008

Where do you start? I will try and explain what Dave meant to the BCLX and the entire LX Forums as a husband and a father, as well, illustrate his dedication, wisdom, honesty, sincerity and friendship towards others.

Where do you start?

Let's start with the Bee. Mean Bee 0004/1000 was born March 2007 in the lower mainland, just outside of Vancouver B.C. Canada. Dave wanted a muscle car, not just any muscle car, a Charger, and not just any Charger, a Super Bee. This pure, 6.1L, detonator yellow, full package of hemi power changed his life, like it has changed most of ours.

The excitement must have been priceless based on his first post which was with ChargerForumz at the time:

Quote from Dave Mar 07:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Super Bee SRT #4/1000
Hey Charger Fans,
I picked up my Super Bee last week. It's even better than my wildest dreams. (and I have great dreams) Hemi muscle car performance, with all the new car goodies. Mean Bee has every factory option excluding the rear seat DVD system. (Good, I didn't buy it for kids entertainment). I have 300 miles on her now, but most of the time she lives in my heated garage with her cover on. I was the first customer at the dealer to negotiate a car cover in the purchase... Yup, I'm pretty picky..... Now the fun begins... I've ordered an Airaid cold air intake with Ram air scoop adapter and a Poweraid throttle body spacer. Does anyone have comments regarding these mods?? What other mods should be next? I'm hoping for about 20 hp from the two.... In the mean time, I'm waiting for some Spring weather so I can go out Mustang hunting....... Mopar forever......
………………………………………………………………………………………………

It wasn't long after this post that Dave pulled onto the Chrysler dealership lot where Chuck (DannyBoy) worked. This is where Dave first introduced himself to Chuck and a bond happened between the two.

Mean Bee and the Grinch ready to prowl at night.

It also wasn't too long after this, where they both discovered the LX Forums. The BCLX was already in it's infancy with Dwight-Mandy, Skullboy, Narts, Kuldip and Rover69 to name a few back in the year 2006, and all not realizing what was about to be a dramatic change within the BCLX. As other members started joining, Dave's friendship with all that joined, started having an effect with each member individually.

When he greeted you at a meet, the first thing you noticed about Dave was his genuine smile, firm handshake and his ever so caring attitude. As King Mango said "As soon as you shook his hand, you knew there was something special about this man". Dave would always have something good to say to everyone.

He always commented on our cars, especially the ones that were kept in showroom condition, either on the forums or he would PM you and just privately acknowledge the work you had done, that many would take for granted. He was always appreciative of the mods you had done on your car... The man never had a bad word to say about anyone. Dave's Mean Bee was always in immaculate shape and in flawless detail. I remember a meet when Dave brought his kids Spencer and Taylor, which they both enjoyed going with him, said to them both, "Boys, since you came on as my 'detail crew', there just happens to be some brake dust on that front mag, can't have that now can we", as he gave me a wink and a smile…priceless. If David showed up at one of our weekly meets alone, it was because he was on his way to watch or pick one of the boys up at some sort of sporting event or practice.

David also LOVED being out at the track as well, and it was very rare to see him out without his wife Kerry, who also raced the Mean Bee, and at least one of his boys for family support. David raced with the best of them, always trying to beat his last time.

One of our BCLX members, Oscar (teamo) who is the BCLX all around mechanic for our cars, usually was the only person allowed to toy around with the Mean Bee, and was usually called on Friday by Dave to go to the track with. Oscar remarked when asked what Dave meant to him, he summed it up with "a great and generous man".

He took racing semi serious. What I mean by that was he ran #4 stock for most of the time, getting as much HP out of the Mean Bee as she could possibly deliver.

His mods were conservative, being the usual 180 stat, CAI, brylcreemed exhaust etc, its when he got the predator was when his times started getting more interesting and he got that gleem in his eye once again. His best time was 12.64 in the ¼ mile and was working on improving that time.
David's life, besides family, wasn't only his Super bee as I found out later. Since David was a pilot earlier on in life, which he didn't share with to many of us in the BCLX, he had an uncanny interest in the military, which he kept up conversations with one of our BCLX members, Skullboy. They talked about many aviation military interests in the first and second world wars. They had an interest in the Canadian designed Avro CF-105 Arrow aircraft as well as many other military aircraft.

Avro CF-105 Arrow

It wasn't until David passed away that Ed, (Skullboy), realized why he had such an interest, thus being his flying experience earlier in life that he never knew about.

David also was a boat enthusiast. Most of the times in the summer, the family was in tow up to the lake, water skiing and enjoying quality family life together.

All the above hopefully explains what David meant to the BCLX and the LX Forums in general. He had a genuine connection to everyone, as well, everyone in turn wanted to be around him all the time. He was a very special person, a person like David comes around once in a lifetime, a person you could always depend on and a person who was just there for you. This was Dave, this was how he cared for everyone.

Which brings me to the most important attribute about David,…his family. As I dug up all this information about David, his car, friends, and other interests, I learned without a doubt his unequivocal admiration for his two sons and deep hearted love for his wife. As Chuck quoted "First and foremost, David was a family man, he loved his boys and his wife Kerry, whom David always referred to as his "Trophy Bride".

David and Kerry

In closing, I suppose so much more can be said. To have personally known Dave for only 6 months, believe me when I say, it seemed a lot longer then that, which makes this that much harder for myself and the rest of the BCLX.

I suppose many of you are asking what will happen to Mean Bee? Well, it has been given a second life. Kerry will be taking time to tame this special breed of Modern Mopar Muscle. Her forum name is Queen Mean Bee, she has raced it before, but now she will be racing for a different reason, and those reasons are her own. In a way this will keep Dave's memory alive and we will watch and continue to keep Mean Bee #4 forever in the BCLX.

By Ron (aka Wellsy)

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NorthVanMag

· #33 · Sep 9, 2008

Well done.

I met Dave a few times and he truly was a gentleman! He poked fun of me calling me a gangster a few times, lol. Sad to see him go but glad that his family is well and that everyone on here is remembering him.

RIP

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