David Wetmore

David Eugene Wetmore, a 37-year resident of Brevard NC, passed away Sunday, December

18th 2022 from secondary complications of Alzheimers—infections of the urinary tract and gall

bladder.

He was born in Stella NE on 18 Dec 1935 to James and Hattie (nee Becker) Wetmore, and

raised in Falls City NE, where his father served as an engineer for the Missouri-Pacific Railroad.

David enjoyed a typical midwestern 1940s childhood, trudging through Nebraska winters to

deliver the Omaha World-Herald, riding his bike in the surrounding countryside, plinking at cans

and blackbirds with the .22 rifle he received for his twelfth Christmas, maintaining cars at the

Standard Oil filling station and Electric Tire Shop. An avid reader from an early age, he

especially enjoyed working at the Lydia Bruun Woods Memorial Library.

Graduating from Falls City High School in 1954, he joined the Army National Guard and

was accepted to Park College in Parkville MO. In 1958 he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in

Chemistry, leading to graduate studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

On 01 Sep 1959 he married Ruth Nettleton of York NE, whom he’d met at Park and begun

dating at KU. Receiving his Masters Degree in 1960, they moved to College Station TX, where

he continued his schooling at Texas A&M University, and they began their family, welcoming

sons Jim in 1960 and Dan in 1963.

After eight years in the National Guard, David was honorably discharged in the rank of Staff

Sergeant. In 1965 he was awarded his Ph.D., and the family headed to Morton PA, where he

began work as a research chemist for Sun Oil Company. While there he pursued his interest in

target shooting, joining the Wilkes Barr Rifle Club, achieving Expert Marksman in rifle and

pistol, and coached a college team at nearby Swarthmore.

In 1967, David accepted a teaching position with Saint Andrews Presbyterian College,

prompting a move to Laurinburg NC. There he taught Chemistry and Computer Science for 18

years, becoming a tenured Full Professor, and serving as Chairman of the Science Division.

During that time, he took up glassblowing, horseback riding, rock climbing and bicycling,

covering the entire 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, and the 751-mile Mountains-to-the-Sea route

across NC. David became an avid hiker, and for several years co-taught a month-long Outward

Bound-style winter camping course, and became an instructor in CPR and emergency first aid.

In 1985, tired of driving six hours each way for a good walk in the woods, he and Ruth

transferred to Brevard College in western North Carolina, where he taught Computer Science for

another 14 years, and pursued graduate studies in that field at Clemson University.

Retiring in 1999, David and Ruth travelled extensively throughout the lower 48, and he

devoted much time to hiking in the Appalachian mountains he loved, completing all 900 miles of

trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, all 400 of the Pisgah National Forest, and

climbing the 40 peaks over 6,000 feet in the southeastern U.S. A long-standing member of the

Carolina Mountain Club, he served as Secretary, a hike leader, and performed trail maintenance.

Preceded in death by his parents, two sisters Nancy and Sylvia, and wife Ruth, he’s survived

by a sister Ginny (nee McCandless) Davis and her husband Tom, of Nevada City CA; son Jim

and his wife Suzanne Claytor, of Bulls Gap, TN; son Dan and his wife Lynne (nee Brown)

Wetmore, of Albuquerque NM; grandson Samuel of Albuquerque; grandson Tobin and his wife

Erica (nee Nocella) Wetmore, also of Albuquerque; niece Summer (nee Davis) McAndrew and

her husband Caden; nephew Chris Davis; grand nieces Mykyla McAndrew and Harper Rae

Davis; and grand nephew Rylie Davis.

A graveside service will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 11:30 A. M. at Stella Cemetery

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