David Ploof

Visitation for David will be held on Wednesday, June 24, from 2:00 - 8:00 p.m. (Sharing of Memories at 6:30 p.m.) at Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Directors, 705 W. Eleven Mile Rd. (four blocks east of Woodward), Royal Oak. The funeral service for David will be held on Thursday, June 25 at 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home followed by a luncheon at Berkley Community Church, 2855 Wiltshire Road, Berkley. ***NOTE: To honor David's wishes, please avoid sending any floral tributes that have the color red in them.*** David "Basil Dave" Louis Ploof, age 33, was killed in a tragic vehicle collision while riding his bike on June 18, 2026. He lived a life not well suited to the obituary format, and would be better served by an epic poem, a collection of koans, or perhaps an abstract field of vibrational color. His was a life marked by transition, exploration, and radical openness to ideas, people, and experiences. As a child and adolescent, he was often an enigma to his family; he was a natural on the theater stage but spoke rarely at home; he was clearly strong willed, but either unclear in his direction or chose to keep it a private matter. Several years after high school, he attended Oakland Community College, obtaining an associate's degree in business, once articulating an interest in becoming an actuary, an ambition that would later read as a non sequitur. While David held numerous jobs before and after that, he never developed an interest in something so confining as a career, and later stated in his published book of poems, "I will never trade happiness / for a bit of extra money / if the only intention for the money / is to buy back my happiness." His remunerative engagements included, among others, driving an ice cream truck (until it burst into flames), playing an Easter Bunny in full costume, and serving at a Brazilian steakhouse before quitting due to his vegetarianism. These were not what defined him, however, but merely tools to obtain the essential tangibles of life. In his mid 20s, David began to notice that although the dates on the calendar changed, he felt static. He resolved to change this not by joining a single club or taking up a hobby, but by attending a social event—a gallery opening, a concert, a cultural festival, a dance party—every day for one month, including things he never thought he would like. He reasoned, for things to happen, you have to go to where things are happening—and not just once—and that if there are things other people liked that he didn't like, maybe it was just because he didn't understand it well enough yet. In this mad dash to take in all he could absorb, he found his people and his scene, took up juggling, moved to Detroit, and cracked himself open to newness and novelty in the way that would eventually come to define him. Following his father's passing in 2019, two of his roommates relocated to Australia, leading David to the epiphany: "Huh, so people can just do that." Shortly thereafter, he followed in his father's footsteps and moved to Hawaii, which proved to be a pivotal experience of highs and lows. While there, David found freedom in the island lifestyle, often going to sleep at "Hilo midnight" around 9 p.m. to get up at 5 a.m. to catch the best waves, or spending his days with newfound acquaintances in off-the-grid eco villages. However, it was also while living on the Big Island that he had his jaw broken when attempting to deescalate a bar fight, causing him to develop a strong aversion for violence and negativity in all forms, and ultimately leading him to return to the Detroit area in early 2021. When he returned from Hawaii, David was transformed by his experiences there and left all who knew him prior to his excursion remarking upon the profound introspection, sensitivity, and reflectiveness that he displayed upon his return. Once again in Detroit, David reconnected with his already large network of friends there, continued to grow it, and undertook (for anyone else) an exhaustive list of pursuits—karaoke, yoga, meditation, book club, origami, trivia, painting, playing music with friends, marathon running (without training), attending Burning Man. Listing them, however, seems almost a distraction from the purpose of these things for him. They were all MacGuffins, plot devices moving along the action of his narrative arc in which he sought to hear the stories of strangers, turn strangers into friends, and unite those friends with his charismatic unselfconsciousness, all while seeking to unravel the mysteries of existence. What is meaning? What is time? What is beauty? He is survived by his mother, Maria Ploof and brother, Michael Ploof. He is also remembered with deep love and affection by his girlfriend, Ashley Anklam, loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives, as well as many, many, many friends.

David Ploof

December 4, 1992 - June 18, 2026