The Kforce Story: 50 Plus Years of Great People Delivering Great Results

Chapter 4

Turning Points

Dave Dunkel would be the first to admit he has two speeds: on and off. He doesn’t have hobbies—he has passions. And while that passion may well be one of his greatest legacies to Kforce and its people, one day in September 1987 it went terribly awry. Driving on I-275 in his 1985 bright red 930 Porsche, a car changed lanes in front of him. Dave drove into the median, hit a mound of dirt, and landed below the two overpass bridges. Dave suffered a broken neck and was forced to wear a halo brace, a steel brace with screws connecting the skull to the brace, immobilizing his head. That would be enough to keep most people at home until they recovered—but not Dave. Bill Josey, a Tampa lawyer who would later join Kforce as general counsel, was trying a hotly contested fee collection case for Romac that required Dave to testify before a judge. “I told Dave to make sure when he testified to look the judge in the eye,” Bill recalled. “When we put him on the stand next to the judge, Dave would look at me while I asked the question and then he would have to awkwardly turn his entire body to look the judge in the eye.” Despite the judge’s obvious discomfort at hearing testimony from “a guy in a suit and tie with a cage on his head and screws in his skull,” they won the case. “It’s just another example of how hard the guys worked in those days,” said Bill. “Their tenacity was unbelievable.” Pete Alonso was surprised to get a call from Dave just days after he was released from the hospital. “He wanted me to drive him to work and at first I thought he was kidding,” said Pete, who fondly recalls their morning talks during the commute. “We both knew if I hit something— even a big bump—that could be the end. He trusted me and that meant the world to me.”

Dave Dunkel suffered severe injuries in a crash that made the headlines in September of 1987. Courtesy Tampa Bay Times , Photographer Mike Pease.

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