[Dialogue] David McClesky

[Wilson Priscilla]

There are so many memories of David’s life.  When I was a college  
student in the early 60’s I visited the Christian Faith and Life  
Community in Austin and David showed me around and gave me copies of  
their newsletters.  I remember our conversation on the movie  
“Judgement at Nuremburg and how quickly we got into it on what it  
means to be responsible.

Later, in Chicago, I remember him best because I was Kendra’s  
designated babysitter when David and Donna were out of town (which  
they were a lot).

And then in Darwin, Australia we did a training together with the  
Aborigine community in Northern Territory in ’69 before Russ and I  
were left on our own out there.

But I spent the most time with him in the summer of ’67 (I think)  
when we created the first Academy. David, Joe Pierce, Bill Alerding  
and myself were the teachers and we had 19 students in the old Room D  
brick room on the West Side.  The curriculum had not been created.  
There had been a rough curriculum written for college students the  
previous summer.  (I probably have the dates wrong.)  It was pretty  
much in David’s head and notes.  A lot of time was spent trying to  
get it out of David’s head.  Since I had every 4th lecture on  
subjects like physics, Old Testament, Psychology and Art, etc. I  
spent that quarter trying to get David to give me some clues, any  
clues on background reading, any content beyond the four sentences in  
the construct, and any idea at all on what it was talking about.  We  
also taught Kierkegaard  at the evening meal.  I remember wailing at  
David when I told him that SK believed in a two story universe and  
David patiently said that, “of course he was, he didn’t live in this  
century.”  I think that quarter was when David was known as the  
“suffering servant.”  He never lost his temper with me and taught me  
so much.

He had such a depth and breadth of the Christian faith.  When he gave  
lectures, there were little polished gems of wisdom throughout the  
talk which focused so well, the one thing without which there is no  
meaning.

Years later David changed radically when he met Pat.  You could sense  
a gentle and compassionate nature that must have always been there  
but never had a chance to come out.  When we talked later in his  
life, his words were always on how being with Pat had enlarged him as  
a complete human being.

How happy I am that David had such experiences in his life.

Pat, my prayers are with you as you grieve over David’s death.  May  
you be comforted on how much you were loved.

Kaye Hayes Gadway

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080820/2413d4fc/attachment.html