David Gene Polivka

David Gene Polivka, 70, of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away peacefully at home in the afternoon of July 19, 2024, surrounded by his wife of 4 years, Renee, and some of their close friends after a heroic struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. David is survived by his wife, Renee Lynne Polivka, of Kansas City, Missouri; brother, Mark (Teri) Polivka of Olathe Kansas; nieces Andrea Chapman and her daughter Halle; Jenny (Garrett) Olsen; Lorrie (Isidro) Soriano; Cindy (Mike) Wonders; beloved aunt, Dianne Artman, of Henderson Kentucky; step-children, Spencer (Laurien) Pearson of Kansas City, Missouri; Taylre (Jenny) Srader-Pearson of Independence, Missouri; as well as many nieces, nephews, step-grandchildren, and friends.

David was born on July 22, 1953 to Oscar and Jean Polivka in Wheatcroft, Kentucky, into a proud, loving, artistically and athletically gifted, coal mining family. Due to his father’s coal mining work, from Wheatcroft they moved to Gallup, New Mexico, and then to the Kansas City area, where David started Junior High School. David was a natural-born artist, seeing the whole world around him with his artist’s soul. While he started at a young age with the desire to be a landscape painter, attending Kansas City Art Institute with that in mind, it wasn’t long before he found his lifelong passion of wood working; creating his beautiful art in wood sculpture, wood carving, custom furniture, and custom interiors, hand drawing all of his designs and working plans himself. David was proud to be a “happy maker,” and anyone who was blessed enough to have a piece of David’s furniture, or other art, knows what that means. David put his heart and soul into everything he did, and his wood shop, Polivka Furniture/DPolivka Studio, located for over two decades in the River Market, was a testament to that. After David turned the reins of the wood shop over to his protege, he started another business, Growpito Technologies, where David spent his time creating a hydroponic growing medium for indoor gardens.

David was a man of faith and of strong convictions, telling others about his love and faith in Jesus Christ, on whom David faithfully kept his sights. David relied on God’s guidance in all his decisions, both personally and in business. David was mostly a humanitarian, with a passion to give freely and do whatever he could to help those around him. He loved people. He loved to tell a story and he had a million. David’s stories are all filled with love, honesty, and most of all, laughter. David’s smile and laughter were always a testament to what was in his heart, and were so infectious, no one could resist smiling in response.

David was a nature lover, with a true heart for conservation. Over the years he held the attention of countless groups of people as he spoke with a passion about protecting and saving of our world’s forests. David was all about the trees! David’s love of nature was evident in his passion for catch and release carp fishing, which he was 100% dedicated to in the later decades of his life. He was a member of the Carp Anglers Group of North America, serving as the state chair for both Missouri and Kansas for a few years, and he founded and ran the Kansas City Carp Anglers group, where he passed on his knowledge and love for catch and release carp fishing. David was never happier or more at peace than when he was sitting on a bank, half snoozing, while listening for the “beep-beep-beep-beep” of his bait alarms going off with a carp on the run!

David’s heart for animals led to a long, long line of rescue dogs, who were all loved and thought of every day of his life, including his last beloved dog, Duke, and his first and favorite cat, Ansel, both of whom are by Renee’s side in the home.

It was David’s wish to be cremated and to have his friends and family gather together to celebrate his incredible life with lots of storytelling, hugs and laughter. We will have his celebration of life in the Fall, with the details to be announced. David’s family asks that if you want to make a memorial contribution in his honor, please do this by either having a tree planted in his name through an organization of your choice, or by making a donation in his name to the Alzheimer’s Association to help with Alzheimer’s research at alz.org.

David Polivka, both in body and in spirit, was the epitome of the pebble dropped in a lake, creating an ever-increasing ripple. The art he made, the lives he touched, and the love he gave will forever be a testament to who he was, and the ripples he created will go on to touch the lives of countless others through each of us he left behind to carry on. Until we meet again David, rest in peace.