Dave was born and raised in Niagara Falls, he is the father of two boys, David and Andrew. Dave has been married to his wife Michelle for over 30 years; the two met in High School and have been together since graduation in 1987.

Dave is the co-owner of The Pizzeria Corporation which was established in December 2020 as a result of the Global Pandemic that had taken effect on Dave’s start up business. Dave already had extensive knowledge of the Pizza business so opening something very familiar seemed like the best self-initiated opportunity.

The Pizzeria is already well established in the Niagara community and will soon be expanding from take-out and delivery to a dine in restaurant that includes a permanent patio.

Niagara Falls is where Dave has laid down his roots and he is not new to the pizza business. He had operated a thriving family pizzeria for over 17 years in the Niagara Region. He established that pizzeria with his wife Michelle and it became a favourite for Niagara residents for take-out and delivery pizza. Dave has tremendous self-taught business sense that was established over years of hard work and perseverance.

As Dave’s sons grew up in that first pizza establishment, Dave seized the opportunity to allow his sons to help out with small responsibility at first and then gradually guiding them with more and more responsibility and demonstrating the value in hard work.

Although Dave has lived in Niagara his entire life, he did form the largest after school martial arts program in North America located in Burlington, Milton and Oakville. The former co-owner of Kicks for Kids Martial Arts Academies ensured quality instruction and safety for thousands of children in the Halton region from 2007 to 2016, Dave also holds a Black Belt in WTF Taekwondo.

Dave embraced fatherhood and became a fine example of a strong role model for his two boys; he led his children through example and his love for his sons is evident in everything that Dave does.

When his oldest son, David was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure Dave was devastated, yet he did his best to be brave for his boy. He immediately began his testing to see if he was a viable live kidney donor for David and he was relieved when he found out he was. When David died at the age of 18 as a result of complications due to Kidney Failure coupled with a long wait to be transplanted Dave was clearly destroyed. Even the face of Dave’s powerful grief he finds the strength from his unbreakable bond of love for his son David. He continues to demonstrate to his son Andrew the skills needed to navigate successfully through life in great times and also when facing adversity.

Dave is the Vice President of The David Gregory MacKinnon Memorial Foundation and he works tirelessly, mainly in the background to ensure the success of every event held to honour his son David and to raise awareness and funding for this very personal registered Canadian charity. Dave cares and tends to David’s Foundation just as he did David with his full attention and love.

Dave is admired for his quick wit, strong integrity, tremendous work ethic, his confidence and his powerful love for his family and loyalty to them.