I grew up outside of Rochester, New York in a warm and loving community. I was a child of the 70s and enjoyed wonderful early years as I was born prior to the age of screens. We explored, built, rode, wrestled, imagined, created, dreamed, and developed. My mother was a passionate retail executive and my father was an electrical engineer who was raised in the depression and had an innate love and a contextual need for tinkering and fixing things.
Our basement had two large back rooms that were dedicated to my father’s passions of electronics and woodworking. These shops were elaborate in regard to equipment and opportunity, but simplistic and functional in design. I was surrounded by a self-sufficient environment and I watched him build speaker boxes, telescopes, equalizers, metal detectors, decks, pool houses, and fences; and he was completely competent in all aspects of framing, plumbing, masonry/tile, and electric.
Hello… I’m David Crissey
I willingly (for the most part) got in his way during most of what I remember throughout my adolescence, and my interest in carpentry grew throughout my adult years. I started my career in education in 1992 and roughly a decade into my teaching career I found myself at crossroads as I was taking on jobs building fences, decks, pergolas and exterior buildings while also finding myself helping friends on smaller projects for fun. I was doing all of this as I was restoring my first home, built in 1911. I was in my tenth year of teaching adolescents who had been removed from their home schools for serious behavioral incidents. I was born to teach those kids and I was placed at the right place at the right time. Meanwhile, my enthusiasm and draw toward carpentry grew stronger. Just as I began to shift toward this passion, I was blessed with winning our district’s prestigious teacher of the year award and this allowed me the opportunity to shine a light on my incredible students and provide awareness of the importance of warmly and positively supporting in-risk adolescents. This recognition and opportunity led to twenty more years in the public education world as I began a long career as an administrator.
I never stopped learning and growing as a carpenter, but things certainly slowed down while I focused on my public service. The last seven years found me starting a beautiful family, opening a brand new elementary school, managing a pandemic, and finally retiring from public education.
My focus is now exclusively narrowed to supporting my passion of working with my hands while having the independence to fully participate in the lives of my seven year old daughter and four year old son. Having wholeheartedly absorbed what I learned in my career, there is not a day that passes without a reminder of the importance of a supportive environment for children as they learn and grow.
I am proud to bring everything I was blessed with as a result of my thirty-year career in public education to Crissey Fencing & Construction. Working with my hands allows me the opportunity to do all the things I love and enables me to work my cognitive and creative muscles while continuing to serve others.
Thank you for considering me as you search for the right fit to support you and your needs.
