NORTH MANCHESTER - Dr. David L. Eiler, 80, of North Manchester, died at 1 p.m. Jan. 7, 2008, in his residence.
He was born March 3, 1927, in Chicago, Ill., to Austin and Edna Betts Eiler. On June 8, 1952, he married Ruth Holsopple, who died Oct. 7, 2007.
He graduated from Nampa High School in 1944, and attended McPherson (Kan.) College for a year. He helped his father on the Idaho farm for two years and then returned to school, attending Manchester College for three years. He graduated in 1950, with a AB degree in chemistry. After college he served in Brethren Volunteer Service, Baltimore, Md., for a year. He was a member of Manchester Church of the Brethren, North Manchester. Moving to Chicago, Ill., he attended Bethany Biblical Seminary and earned a bachelor of divinity degree in 1956. Moving to Princeton, N.J., in 1957, he worked in the Th.M. program in New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. He studied in the doctoral program in Old Testament from 1958-62, and taught Biblical Hebrew as a teaching assistant. In 1962, he moved to McPherson, Kan., where he was a professor in the Dept. of Philosophy and Religion until 1969. While there he finished work for his Ph.D. in Biblical studies. In 1969, he moved to North Manchester, where he taught at Manchester College in the department of religion and philosophy until 1992, serving as chair of that department for several of those years. During those years he lead two summer study trips, one to Israel and the second to Egypt. He also had two sabbatical leaves, the first to Cambridge (England) University and the second to Claremont Graduate School in California.
His lifetime interests and activities were world travel, birding, butterfly and moth collecting, nature photography as well as global environmental issues. In 1975, he was a founding member of Tippecanoe Chapter of the National Audubon Society. He and his family enjoyed many summer trips in the U.S. and Canada, camping in a travel trailer. Other places he ventured were Mexico, Africa and Europe.
After retirement he also participated in several Elderhostels in the U.S. and abroad. In 2002, he moved into a neighborhood home on Hickory Lane in the Timbercrest Retirement Community.
Surviving are two daughters, Janis E. (and spouse Martin) Speed, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lois E. (and spouse Thomas) Walker, Roswell, Ga.; a brother, Dr. Paul (and spouse Alma) Eiler, North Manchester; two sisters, Anne McKellip, Nampa, Idaho, and Lee Basham, Memphis, Tenn.; and three grandchildren.
Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Manchester Church of the Brethren, 1306 N. Beckley St., North Manchester, with Pastor Kurt Borgmann officiating. Burial will be in Memory Garden at Manchester Church of the Brethren.
Calling is one hour prior to the service Saturday at the church.
DeLaughter-McKee Mortuary, North Manchester, is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials to Manchester Church of the Brethren, 1306 N. Beckley St., North Manchester, IN 46962; or Tippecanoe Audubon Society, 721 Wayne St., North Manchester, IN 46962.
