Deceased June 2, 2022
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In Memory
David Sheldon passed away on June 2, 2022, in his home in Bainbridge Island, Wash.
A college adviser at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, suggested that he “go to a college on a hill.” Before following that advice, he spent a year at an English public school, with its boating-morning coat, striped trousers and cricket. At Amherst, Dave was a member of the Deke house. In our 50th reunion book, he wrote, “Courses with Craig, Packard, Salmon and Ziegler are particularly remembered as are the hours of work at Eddie Switzer’s and in Valentine with Paul Coon.”
After Amherst, Dave worked in advertising in New York City for three years before moving with his wife, Judy, to take a teaching position at Middlesex School in Concord, Mass., where he stayed for 34 years, 26 as headmaster. (An example of the challenges of a headmaster was a call from a resident that Middlesex boys and Concord girls were swimming nude in her pond and asking what he was going to do about it.) Middlesex was followed by six years as president of the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vt.
Dave will be remembered for his humor, generosity, keen intellect and ability to have stimulating conversations on everything from classics to current events. His passion for books, poetry, small boats, fishing and bicycles continued to the end of his life. He regularly spent family vacations with Chuck ’51 and Polly Longsworth on Cape Cod, where they were periodically joined by John ’51 and Nancy Kendall. During winters, he, Chuck and John often enjoyed bone-fishing trips.
Dave is survived by three sons, Fred, Charles and James, and two grandchildren.
Hobie Cleminshaw ’51 and the Sheldon family