OBITUARY

Dr. J. David Kieffer, medical researcher, died on November 20, 2022 at the Gilchrest Hospice facility in Columbia, Maryland after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He passed peacefully in his sleep at age 83. David was born in 1939 in Easton, Pennsylvania, the third son of Drs. Dorothy Kieffer and Jesse Kieffer. After preparing at Easton High School, David attended Harvard College where he was a member of the Class of 1960 and Lowell House and from which he graduated with an A.B. degree majoring in biology. Later he earned a PhD in biology from Boston University. While in college, he met, befriended, and fell in love with Elinor Lowe in the late 1950s. The two married in 1962 after Elinor’s graduation from Simmons College in Boston. The couple had two children, Susan and Gordon, and were married until Elinor’s passing in 2011. David spent his career conducting non-profit medical research, first at Massachusetts General Hospital studying basic science relating to the thyroid gland and later at Brigham & Women’s Hospital studying cellular mobility in the Department of Dermatology. He retired in 2005. David played chess as a boy and was a life-long reader – the classics in college, journal articles for his profession, and mystery novels for pleasure – The Complete Sherlock Holmes was a treasured volume in the family home for decades. But what he loved most was activity near water. He swam and fished in the Delaware River as a boy before the great flood of 1955 washed away the family vacation cabin. As an adult, his favorite place was Tucker Pond in New Hampshire where he and Elinor purchased a small cabin. He discovered his favorite past time — swimming — in middle age. He swam a mile per day, almost without fail, for some 20 years before health concerns made doing so too difficult.

David was a devoted husband and father. He and Elinor often read the same novels, turning favorite characters into family jokes. The couple loved to watch movies and favorite TV shows together – Law and Order or M*A*S*H reruns were always a go-to option. And they were both “foodies” who enjoyed French cuisine. David enjoyed “being the sous chef” for Elinor whose love of cooking in general – and of the teachings of Julia Child in particular – she passed to her son. David was a constant source of love and advice for Gordon. He taught Gordon to play chess, to fish, and to appreciate the intellectual beauty of science and mathematics. And frequent cabin maintenance projects planted the seed for Gordon’s current love of home improvement projects, carpentry, and woodworking. David was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Stanley and Robert, and his wife Elinor of 49 years. He is survived by his daughter Susan, his son Gordon and partner Melissa, and by his grandson Jason. Celebration of life services are being arranged by the family and will be announced later, likely in the spring of 2023. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to support the Employee Appreciation Fund (EAF) at Residences at Vantage Point -- Life Plan community where David spent the final year of his life. Please make your check payable to "Vantage Point Residents’ Association" and indicate it is for the EAF in the memo line. Mail your check to Kathy Krickbaum at 5400 Vantage Point Rd. Columbia, MD 21044. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.witzkefuneralhomes.com for the Kieffer family.