Celebrating sobriety, life

Fargo man, sober for 11 years, now helps others struggling with addiction

By Carol Stender

Dave Artz of Fargo was literally flying high when he celebrated 10 years of sobriety – make that 10,000 feet in the air.

The Fargo man went skydiving to note the milestone. The fact that he doesn’t like heights made no difference.

Dave Artz (left) of Fargo celebrated his 10 years of sobriety last year by skydiving with some friends. Dave has had an eclectic life story. He was adopted at three months of age, has had dark days that led to his sobriety journal, and through it all has had a 40-plus year career in sales.  

“But it didn’t bother me,” said Dave of the elevation he reached.

He was elated at his sobriety. Dave had been a functioning alcoholic through most of his adult life. He avoided drinking alcohol in high school. The Fargo Shanley athlete didn’t want to get caught drinking, which would’ve resulted in getting kicked off the team, he said.

After Dave’s high school sports career, however, things were different and he started experimenting with alcohol. He attended one semester of college, then opted to go into sales, which became his career.

His parents, Bob and Sally Artz, had cocktails sometimes after work or special occasions, so drinking was acceptable in the family. And, when Dave got married and joined a service organization, drinking alcoholic beverages were part of the socialization.

In August 2015, his life unraveled with excessive drinking and a pending divorce. He is not proud, but he attempted suicide and was placed on short-term disability, he said. Dave was scheduled to return to his sales job, but he learned that his company, which had already dropped sales representatives from 8 to 30, was making another cut. This one affected Dave’s position.

“Everything was happening at once,” he said. “Something needed to change.”

Dave put himself into a treatment center.

“And I haven’t had a drink since,” he said. “Life has changed dramatically.”

He has worked the past six years for Knight Printing of Fargo. It’s part of his 41-year sales career.

Dave has his father, Bob, to thank for his sales focus. Bob worked for Monarch Photo in Fargo, a premier photo developing company in its day.

Through Bob’s guidance, Dave saw, experienced, and learned the importance of developing connections with people.

“My dad was the leader of the photo finishing industry,” Dave said. “He was highly sought after and people respected him.”

Dave garnered many of Bob’s traits. He admired his dad and, when Dave was a kid, his dream was to work for Kodak.

“One reason I have had success in sales is through the relationship building,” he said. “I have customers from 30 years ago that I still call to see how they are doing. I take a general interest in people. I am not just there or me.”

And he has had people there for him in tough times, as well.

When he didn’t feel well one day, he went to a neighbor who is an emergency room doctor. Dave, who was 42 at the time,  was experiencing a massive heart attack.

After learning Dave’s symptoms, the neighbor put him in his car and called the hospital giving orders to the staff. When they arrived at the emergency room doors, people were waiting to care for Dave.

“You know those scenes you see of an emergency room on the TV shows?” he asked. “Yep, that’s what it was like. They took my vitals and I was whisked off to surgery.”

He was in surgery within 17 minutes of arriving at the hospital where they placed two tents and later, followed that with a quadruple bypass.

Dave Artz, who was adopted at three month old, met his birth parents and maintains a relationship with them and his half-siblings;  He had a very positive childhood with his adoptive parents and family.   Photo by Carol Stender

After he recovered and went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, he saw the same doctor sitting across the room.

He had another health scare about seven years ago as he wrestled with neck pain issues. Dave went to a chiropractor who ordered an MRI and contacted a neurologist. Dave was contacted that night to be at the hospital the next morning. He was to have surgery. His spinal cord was being severed by a bone spur. A cough or sneeze could’ve paralyzed him.

“Again, it was a God thing,” Dave said. “God always has a plan.”

He has seen that throughout his life including the very beginning.

Dave’s biological mother, Diana Nelson, was a Forestburg, SD high school senior when she became pregnant in 1965. No one in town knew she was expecting when she graduated that spring. Her high school sweetheart, Larry Sawyer, was the father.

After graduation she was sent to live with relatives. Larry, as far as Diana’s mother was concerned, was out of the picture.

Diana rebelled against her living situation and was then sent to a home for unwed mothers.

Dave was born in Aberdeen on Dec. 23, 1965. Three months later, Bob and Sally Arts adopted him. Noting that his birthday was so close to Christmas, they celebrated his birthday again on April 1, the day they adopted Dave.

Dave wasn’t the only child in the family. He had a sister who was 11 and another who was 7 when he was adopted.

The family was living in Aberdeen, SD and moved to Fargo when Dave was three. In Fargo, Bob owned and operated Monarch Photo.

After high school, Dave worked at one of the Monarch Photo stores in Aberdeen where he was asked to take wedding photos for a co-worker, Kevin and his fiance, Shannon. (Here is one of Dave’s twists of life.) Shannon had started a new job with Catholic Charities. Ten years later a woman came with a letter. It was Dave’s biological mom, Diana. She had written a letter to Dave every year of his life and had it put in his adoption file.

The adoption was closed, but, if Dave ever chose to connect with his birth parents, Diana wanted him to know of her and her life. And that she had always loved him.

When Shannon placed the letter in the folder, she recognized Dave’s name. Shannon called him asking if he wanted to meet his mother. Dave was thrilled to have the information.

“It’s probably not the way things are done, but I wanted to meet my birth parents,” he said.

He connected with Diana and went to meet her.

“When she opened the door to her trailer, it was like looking at a carbon copy of myself,” he said. “We had the same dimples and the same blue eyes.”

Dave had grabbed three photo albums from his home and showed her pictures of his youth. He learned Diana worked at her hometown cafe after his birth and met a truck driver who was 18 years older than she was at the time. She left town with him, and got married three months later. She had four children – three daughters and a son. Because she had already lost one son, Dave, she made sure her other son would grow up under her care.

The Huron paper was contacted and a story appeared on the front page. Later, the Fargo Forum published their own story with a headline, “Fargo Man Finds Mother After 30 Years.”

“I had a good upbringing and they (Bob and Sally) were my parents,” he said. “I look at meeting my birth parents and relatives as a second family.”

Dave’s biological father didn’t have the opportunity to marry his birth mother, but he did have a diamond ring for her. Dave’s father, Larry Sawyer, had the diamond reset in a black hills gold band and, after meeting Dave, he sent it to him. Dave now wears it on his right hand.

After meeting his birth mom, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet his birth dad, but six months later, after seeing the article, Larry contacted him. They met. Again, it was like seeing a carbon copy of himself. The two had the same furrow between the brows and the same physical build.

Later he got a package in the mail from Larry. It was a ring. Larry had purchased a diamond engagement ring for Diana back in 1965. But, with everything that happened, Larry eventually had the diamond removed and placed in a Black Hills Gold ring. He gave it to Dave.

Dave now wears it on his right hand.

He calls his life’s story bizarre and wild, but it’s also been full of experiences and learning lessons. His wrestling coach’s words, “Failure is not an option,” have been a theme throughout his struggles with alcohol and life.

And now, he brings his life’s message to others, sharing his story of sobriety at Alcoholics Anonymous functions and other groups. Sometimes talking to more than 300 people.

His story resonates with many, he said. And through it all, he says, God has had a plan.