David attended the Allendale School in Rochester before coming to Princeton, where he became a member of Campus Club and majored in history. He wrote his thesis on “Lyman Abbott and the Social Gospel at the Turn of the Century.” He earned an M.Div. degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1956 and was then ordained into the Presbyterian Ministry in his home church in Rochester. His service in the ministry began at the Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, N.J., but he then moved back to the city he loved and served first as the minister of the University Heights Presbyterian Church in the Bronx and then for 26 years at the Riverdale Presbyterian Church, also in the Bronx. He was active in the New York Presbytery and served as its Moderator in the 1970s.
David became a U.S. citizen in his 20s and was always interested in the news and happy to engage in a political discussion at any time. He was active in the gay community and very involved with Bailey House, which was opened in 1986 and was the nation’s first congregate residence for people living with AIDS. David was a board member. He loved music, art, and theater, and loved New York City with all the opportunities available there.
David is survived by his younger sister Joan and her husband, five nephews, six grandnephews, and one great-grandnephew.