David Anthony AnutaDavid Anthony Anuta died in the early afternoon on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021, at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. He was 76 years old.
He was a successful inventor and business executive. He had an adventurous streak and a warm sense of humor. And he will be missed terribly by his friends and family.
David was born in 1945 in Lafayette, to Edward Raymond Anuta and his wife Geraldine (neé Shriner). He grew up in nearby West Lafayette and attended Klondike High School. As a teenager, he began a lifelong hobby of flying Piper Cub and Cessna airplanes around northern Indiana.
After a brief stint as an exchange student in Brazil, David returned to his hometown to attend Purdue University, where he received a Bachelor of Science. Afterward he moved to Los Angeles to work for a chemical company while exploring southern California on his motorcycle.
While living in a van in Muncie — where he earned his Master of Business Administration at Ball State University in 1973 — David met his wife, Peggy. The two eventually purchased a 90-acre farm in Warsaw and began raising two children. David sometimes spent early mornings among the corn and soybeans before heading into work at Zimmer Biomet, a global orthopedic company.
In 1976, David’s name appeared on U.S. Patent No. 4,341,691 as the inventor of low-viscosity bone cement. In 1987, he was named vice president of specialty orthopedic products at Zimmer, and five years later was made vice president of manufacturing for the United States and Puerto Rico. David served on the board of Kosciusko Community Hospital and was a member of several professional organizations including the Society for Biomaterials and the Orthopaedic Research Society.
In 2004, he retired from Zimmer and with his wife began spending more time at their home in Marco Island, Fla., where he liked to pilot his 23-foot boat, The Pimento, through the mangroves and surrounding seas. David was fond of singing and dancing. He traveled the globe for work and pleasure and, along with Peggy, crisscrossed the country in a camper. He had advice for every occasion. And more than anything, he loved to tell a good story over a dry martini.
He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Paul Anuta.
He is survived by his wife, Peggy Anuta, of Marco Island, Fla.; his sons: Dr. Phillip Anuta, D.O., of Missoula, Mont.; and Joe Anuta, of New York, N.Y.; and by his brother, Phillip Anuta; and sister, Judith McFadden, both of Surprise, Ariz.
A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. on Jan. 14 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1101 N. Collier Blvd. in Marco Island, Fla.
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In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to St. Mark's Episcopal Church/Friends of Music.
