David R. Weber ’65
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July-August 2023
David R. Weber ’65 died on April 21 in Exeter, New Hampshire, of an apparent heart attack. He came to Dartmouth from Holyoke, Massachusetts, and as an undergraduate was president of Phi Tau, a member of Casque & Gauntlet and Palaeopitus, and president of the Undergraduate Council. Following Dartmouth Dave received master’s degrees in English from both Columbia and Cornell. Dave taught English for 47 years at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he also coached distance runners. A man of deep dedication to social change, he spent years working with Marriage Equality in New Hampshire, which culminated in a legislative victory for same-sex marriage in 2010. At Exeter he and a colleague began a weekly meditation series and a writing program for students to learn the art of writing in a way that expressed and examined their spiritual roots. Dave was a two-term trustee of Dartmouth, a member of the Exeter police community advisory committee, the social justice committee of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Exeter, the racial unity team of Exeter, the board of Exeter LitFest, and the local Southeast Land Trust advisory committee. He served many Phillips Exeter graduates—some well-known authors, scholars in areas of social justice to which he was committed, or writers of op-eds for leading papers—as a primary reader and editor. He leaves his wife of 58 years, Ilona, daughter Anya, and her husband, George.