David Wenger Memorial Fund
Donation protected
It is with a heavy heart I share the heartbreaking news that David Wenger passed away unexpectedly on December 31st. He was 39 years old. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca Roth, his daughter Nava (7), and son Michael (4).
This memorial fund will be distributed to Rebecca to help alleviate unexpected expenses associated with David's passing.
David was a New Yorker through and through. He was born, raised, educated, and lived his entire life in the city. He gave up a successful career at a big NYC law firm to join the cannabis industry by first writing a prescient white paper "The Green Regulatory Arbitrage" in September 2018. This 139-page paper was so well-researched and written that when I met him for lunch a couple of months later, I admonished him for giving it away for free. He didn't even require an email to download it - he told me he just wanted to be of service to help grow the industry. No bullshit. David had a "pay-it-forward" attitude.
David was obviously a great lawyer but had a passion for cannabis. And I don't just mean cannabis investing or financial gain in the cannabis industry, although he was a sharp investor and he was a deal and stock news junkie. I mean, he really loved the plant. He was the definition of a high-functioning stoner. But he hardly ever toked if he was feeling down - only when things were good. I respected that about him.
And man, he hated prohibition. He would rant about how f'd up it was that anyone was in jail for cannabis and he worked to change that by building the cannabis industry. He was on the US Senate Cannabis Working Group. You can read about all that on his LinkedIn bio but what I want to tell you is that, for a hardass New York attorney, he had the biggest heart you've ever seen.
He helped a lot of cannabis entrepreneurs and investors with advice, not just by dropping knowledge on panels at conferences, but 1-1 individually. He gave a lot of his time without expecting anything in return. He was so kind and generous with his time. As an investor in Asia Horizon, he gave us such good advice he became an advisor then it just became obvious he should join us full-time. We worked hard but had a lot of laughs together.
And, we had a lot of ice cream together, because he had the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I've ever met. If I didn't know that he was an avid cyclist because he felt so free on his bike (he once cycled across Europe), I'd think he just took it up so he could eat nearly unlimited ice cream and stay thin.
David was pretty much all business if you met him networking at a conference, but he had a wicked sense of humor once you got to know him. Dry and understated, but not sarcastic. He never put anyone down. He was kindhearted and sensitive, which belied his NYC-suffer-no-fools attorney exterior.
And I could see past that tough exterior on our zoom calls, him broadcasting from his Brooklyn apartment with Nava and Michael making regular appearances climbing all over him, sometimes to his chagrin and my amusement. But he was always patient with them. He was a loving father and husband.
I respected him so much as a professional, and I loved him as a friend. May his soul Rest in Peace.
This memorial fund will be distributed to Rebecca to help alleviate unexpected expenses associated with David's passing.
David was a New Yorker through and through. He was born, raised, educated, and lived his entire life in the city. He gave up a successful career at a big NYC law firm to join the cannabis industry by first writing a prescient white paper "The Green Regulatory Arbitrage" in September 2018. This 139-page paper was so well-researched and written that when I met him for lunch a couple of months later, I admonished him for giving it away for free. He didn't even require an email to download it - he told me he just wanted to be of service to help grow the industry. No bullshit. David had a "pay-it-forward" attitude.
David was obviously a great lawyer but had a passion for cannabis. And I don't just mean cannabis investing or financial gain in the cannabis industry, although he was a sharp investor and he was a deal and stock news junkie. I mean, he really loved the plant. He was the definition of a high-functioning stoner. But he hardly ever toked if he was feeling down - only when things were good. I respected that about him.
And man, he hated prohibition. He would rant about how f'd up it was that anyone was in jail for cannabis and he worked to change that by building the cannabis industry. He was on the US Senate Cannabis Working Group. You can read about all that on his LinkedIn bio but what I want to tell you is that, for a hardass New York attorney, he had the biggest heart you've ever seen.
He helped a lot of cannabis entrepreneurs and investors with advice, not just by dropping knowledge on panels at conferences, but 1-1 individually. He gave a lot of his time without expecting anything in return. He was so kind and generous with his time. As an investor in Asia Horizon, he gave us such good advice he became an advisor then it just became obvious he should join us full-time. We worked hard but had a lot of laughs together.
And, we had a lot of ice cream together, because he had the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I've ever met. If I didn't know that he was an avid cyclist because he felt so free on his bike (he once cycled across Europe), I'd think he just took it up so he could eat nearly unlimited ice cream and stay thin.
David was pretty much all business if you met him networking at a conference, but he had a wicked sense of humor once you got to know him. Dry and understated, but not sarcastic. He never put anyone down. He was kindhearted and sensitive, which belied his NYC-suffer-no-fools attorney exterior.
And I could see past that tough exterior on our zoom calls, him broadcasting from his Brooklyn apartment with Nava and Michael making regular appearances climbing all over him, sometimes to his chagrin and my amusement. But he was always patient with them. He was a loving father and husband.
I respected him so much as a professional, and I loved him as a friend. May his soul Rest in Peace.
Organizer and beneficiary
John Downs
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Rebecca Roth
Beneficiary