John David Lamanca
Dave Lamanca possessed those qualities most men can only imagine. He was intelligent, handsome, athletic, affable, and energetic. He was truly a young man with a bright future.
In 1985 he graduated from Salem High School in the top 10 percent of his class and was a participant in a variety of scholastic activities that included: National Honor Society, Spanish Club, Monogram Club, basketball, golf, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was a representative to Boys State, listed in Who’s Who Among American High School Students, and received the Buddy Clement Memorial Golf Scholarship; reflective of his love for this sport and his role in helping Salem High School win the Group AAA State Golf Championship in 1983.
He entered the University of Virginia school of engineering in the fall of 1985 and received a BS degree in Computer Science in 1989.
Following college, he went to work in the family-owned business, Chesapeake X-Ray Corporation, progressively as corporate fields representative, corporate field representative, and corporate business manager. In each of these positions he displayed a keen awareness for making changes and improvements that were beneficial to all parties. These changes ranged from: formulating and upgrading all computer networking systems and programs for the entire company through 8 warehouses in 3 states; to restructuring the administrative division and setting specific company objectives; to upgrading and structuring an independent clinical sales division and setting specific company objectives; to upgrading and structuring an independent clinical sales division together with marketing and sales procedures; to establishing systematic maintenance of activities related to accounting procedures, interoffice communications; inventory management and reporting methods. Clearly, he demonstrated a profound understanding of the business and how to bring about positive growth while building strong relationships within the company as well as with vendors and customers. Little wonder that his father, John Lamanca, was looking forward to Dave assuming a greater leadership role in the company.
Away from the office Dave was devoted to his family and sports. It was in 1985 at a social for in-coming students at UVA that he met Kristi Jamison a week before the start of the school year. They dated throughout college and were married in April of 1990, the year following graduation. As for sports, Dave was an avid golfer and his father was a regular playing partner. He also coached basketball and was an official with the Virginia High School League with a goal of one-day officiating in the ACC.
On September 8, 1994, after attending an Electronic Data Interchange Seminar in Illinois, Dave was returning home on USAir Flight 427. As the plane approached Pittsburgh International Airport it crashed and all 132 passengers perished. News of the tragedy came as a complete shock and with disbelief to family members, associates, and friends—a situation that continues to this day. It was on November 30, 1994 that Kristi gave birth to their son, Jayson David Lamanca.
In honor of this outstanding young man the Virginia Society of Radiologic Technologists re-named their annual golf tournament in his memory. Additionally, his family has established the Dave Lamanca Golf Scholarship at Salem High School. In further recognition of his outstanding career achievements, in 1996, John David Lamanca was among charter members inducted into the Salem Alumni Hall of Fame established by the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association.
