The Rev. J. David Scheyer

David Scheyer

David Scheyer

The Rev. J. David Scheyer, parish minister, outdoorsman and avid sailor, zealous fighter for justice, and dedicated volunteer and counselor in programs for victims of domestic violence, died at age eighty-five on 7 February 2014 after several months of declining health.

David Scheyer was passionate about hiking and sailing. He went on week-long backpacking trips in California during his seminary years and did a month-long hike through the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1960s. For many summers he and his wife Fia anchored their sailboat in the Bahamas, living on board and enjoying the water, sunsets, and people they met. They also spent time sailing in Massachusetts and Florida, living first on their boat and later in their homes on shore.

Early on in his ministry, the Rev. Mr. Scheyer foresaw the evil of market values permeating social relationships, and he lamented the “dehumanizing” impact of materialism as “the gravest problem facing the world today.” At the same time his tastes were simple and unpretentious. In a 1974 interview, he told a local news reporter that, for longer than he could remember, cheeseburgers—made with equal amounts of meat and cheese—were “the best eating around,” and when served with a “mug of coffee together, that’s good chow!” [Lenn Speers, “Minister of the Week,” The Ledger, Lakeland, Florida (20 April 1974), p. 1C.]

John David Scheyer was born in Philadelphia on 28 April 1928 to Dr. Frederick L. Scheyer and Synette Swensen Scheyer, but after a family move to Puyallup he grew up near the south end of Washington’s Puget Sound. College attendance at Princeton University, Reed College, and UC Berkeley was interrupted by service (1951-53) as a Marine during the Korean conflict. By his early 30s, Mr. Scheyer was living in Billings, Montana and working in drug sales to physicians. Unchurched since the Methodism of his teens, he discovered the Billings Unitarian Fellowship—“the most comfortable meeting I had ever attended”—and quickly became an active member, soon serving as the congregation’s president. With his increasing involvement in the anti-war movement and growing dissatisfaction with the values of the pharmaceutical industry, ministry began to call to him as a more fulfilling career. He went off to Berkeley and was graduated from Starr King School for the Ministry in 1967.

David Scheyer

David Scheyer

In his first call, he served the UU Church of Fort Lauderdale from 1967 to 1971, where he was ordained on 9 February 1968. Moving to a period of yoked ministry (1972-76), he served the Unitarian Fellowship of South Florida and made monthly trips to the Lake Region UU Fellowship (now the UU Congregation of Lakeland). After calls to the Church of the Mediator in Providence, Rhode Island (1977-78) and the UU Church of Marblehead, Mass (1979-82), the Rev Mr. Scheyer moved into a series of interim ministries, serving successively the First Parish Church (UU) of Ashby, Mass (1983-84), the UU Fellowship of Raleigh, North Carolina (1986-87), the Unitarian Church in Charleston, South Carolina (1987-89), and lastly the First UU Church of Austin, Texas (1989-90).

Service to the UUA included membership on the board of the association’s Florida District and presidency of the Massachusetts Bay District. Mr. Scheyer’s ministerial career was brought unexpectedly to an end by amnesia in early February 1990 when he went missing for nearly three months, after failing to show up for two events at the Austin church where he was an interim minister. Wandering apparently from Texas, to Florida, and then to Arizona, without knowledge of his own identity, he chanced to overhear mention of “Puyallup,” which triggered memory of his boyhood town. He made his way there by late April, and with only a social security card to remind him of his surname, he found a “Carl Scheyer” in the local phone book, who turned out to be his uncle. Thus reconnected with family, including his brother Warner living in nearby Redmond and his wife Fia, who had returned to Boston after his disappearance, Mr. Scheyer seems to have gradually recovered.

Relocating with his wife to Franklin, North Carolina, he joined the UU Fellowship there to live out the last twenty years of his life. He made friends easily. A computer store owner in Franklin recalled that he “was always one of my favorite customers. We became friends and I always enjoyed discussing religion, spirituality, and politics with Dave. We had lots of laughs, and seeing him come through the door always put a smile on my face.” The Rev. Mr. Scheyer was also deeply concerned about domestic violence and devoted much time in his retirement years to volunteering at Resources Education Assistance Counseling Housing (REACH), a local agency with a mission “to eradicate domestic violence and sexual assault crimes in Macon County, through prevention, intervention, and educational services.” He spent many nights in hospitals, talking with domestic violence victims and offering comfort and companionship.

In frail health but cheerful spirits during the last months of his life, David moved into the Macon Valley Nursing Center, where his outgoing friendliness continued to touch people. One visitor to the Center, who met him there only three months before his death while visiting members of her own family, continued to visit him regularly and, despite brief acquaintance, felt moved to write at some length a generous remembrance of him and Fia as “kind, caring, and loving.” Sadly, David’s wife Fia was killed in a car accident in December 2013, just two months before his own death.

David Scheyer is survived by his brother, Warner; three step-children, David Cefkin, Suzie Della Penta, and Beverly Calobrace; eight grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Fia Bartnovski Scheyer. His life was celebrated in a memorial service led by long-time friend and fellow UU, Walter Burnett, on February 22 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Franklin, North Carolina. His stepson, David Cefkin, described him as having “a passion for equality, and a very low tolerance for injustice.”

Memorial donations may be made to REACH of Macon County, PO Box 228, Franklin, North Carolina 28744.

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