As an involved member of the community, the late David Tack will be missed, but his influence will remain.

David Tack Sr., 75, of Butler, who died Saturday, volunteered for educational, religious and other community causes.

As one of his sons, Eric Tack, said, “He was a great man. He was a giver. He always wanted to help people.”

Tack, who owned the excavating business DHT Construction, knew the value of trade education, his son said.

Because of that, he served on the original board of the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School. Tack spoke to students at the now-closed Broad Street Elementary School for the Junior Achievement program.

He also was a past president of the Center Township Elementary School PTA.

Along with supporting the importance of educational skills, Tack also knew children needed to be educated about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, according to Bill Bittner, a close friend.

Tack was on the committee for Butler County Against Heroin, and together, Bittner and Tack founded the Butler County branch of the Stand Tall program, which teaches children about abstinence from alcohol and drugs.

“Dave was instrumental; he was the main person in bringing Stand Tall to the community,” Bittner said.

The Butler, Karns City and South Butler school districts participate in the Stand Tall program.

As a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church for 44 years, Tack would spend time crafting small wooden crosses, part of his Cross Ministry.

According to Eric Tack, the hobby was inspired by Tack’s uncle, John C. Tack, and those crosses ended up across the world, about 82,000 of them.

The crosses, given to churches of all denominations, have made it to nearly every country, his son said.

“I’m pretty sure the pope was given a couple,” he said, saying that other people passed them along when Pope Francis visited Philadelphia in 2015.

If you see a small wooden cross hanging from the rearview mirror of a car in the Butler area, it probably was made by his father.

Eric Tack said his father had hoped to make 100,000 crosses, and now he plans on taking up the practice.

Eric Tack owns the business that his father started.

In addition to his educational and religious work, Tack was a member of the Masonic Butler Lodge 272, the Diamond Park Rebuilding Committee in 1979, the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and the Butler Rotary.

In 2011, he received the Senior Butler County Distinguished Service Award for his volunteer efforts.

“His heart was just as big as he was,” Bittner said. “He would give to all kinds of people ... I think Dave was just totally committed to doing things for people and especially for our youth.”

The Thompson-Miller Funeral Home in Butler is handling his funeral arrangements.