CHARLOTTE - Dr. David Harold Cheney, 55, died Tuesday after a long battle with AIDS. 

Dr. Cheney was bom Dec. 26, 1942, in Springfield, son of Irene and Vern Cheney. 

He graduated from Springfield High School, the University of Vermont and the University of Vermont Medical School, from which he received the Roache Award for great potential for compassionate care. 

His postgraduate training was in the U.S. Army with an internship at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver and residency training at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. After his training Dr. Cheney was chief of anesthesia and operative services at Tripler Army Medical Center. In 1976 he was a member of the Medical Support Team of NASA Apollo 15-Soyez Mission.

From 1983 until retiring in 1994, he was a partner with Capital Anesthesia Association in Austin, Texas, where he was chief of anesthesiology and chief of medical staff at Brackenridge Hospital. He was a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and on the ASA Occupational Health of Operating Room Personnel Committee and Subcommittee on Infection Control.

Dr. Cheney assumed a leadership role in teaching his colleagues and students of medicine about HIV and helped develop policies to address HIV. In 1996 he was this recipient of the UVM Alumni Award for Service to Medicine and Community.

He was a master swimmer and active in the Boy Scouts. He enjoyed sailing and was on the crew of the Nina in Brazil to commemorate the 500 anniversary of Columbus' sail for the Columbus Foundation. 

Upon retiring, he and his wife moved to Vermont, where he volunteered time with the Boy Scouts, guest lecturing and refinishing his farm house. 

Survivors include his wife, Mary (Calahan) Cheney; two sons, David Cheney and Scott Cheney; a daughter, Rebecca Cheney; three brothers, Brian Cheney, Gary Cheney and Jeffery Cheney; and his father. 

He was predeceased by his mother. 

Contributions may be made to the Vermont CARES, P.O. Box 6248, Burlington, 06402, or Boy Scout Troop 639, care of Edwin Grant Kennedy Brothers, Vergennes, 06491 . 

A service will be held Thursday, Aug. 26, at 1 1 a.m. at Charlotte Congregational Church in Charlotte. A reception will follow at the farm on Lewis Creek Road in Charlotte.

Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, Vermont, 19 Aug 1999, Thu  •  page 12