David Howard Wilder

David Howard Wilder died on March 23, 2025, at home in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Raised in India, he was a psychologist, U.S. Marine, amateur photographer, and beloved husband, father, uncle and grandfather.

Dave was born on May 13, 1929, in Kodaikanal, South India, the third of four sons of the late Edward Wheeler Wilder and Harriet (Wyman) Wilder. His parents worked as American Congregational missionaries in Madura, a large city on the plains of South India. The boys attended an American boarding school in Kodaikanal, in the Palni hills about 7,000 feet above sea level north of Madura. One of his fonder memories was from his later years in high school when he and his brothers spent a couple of weeks cleaning, stripping, greasing, and oiling their English bicycles before riding them home together. The trip from Kodaikanal to Madura was probably about 35 miles coasting downhill, and 40 miles on level, hard packed dirt roads. (The return trip to school was made by bus!)

After graduating from high school in India, the Wilder brothers each came to the states for college. Dave started at Grinnell college in a class with many older students who were veterans returning from WWII, which was partly why Dave found the transition to his new life in America was not always easy. He transferred to study psychology at Oberlin College in Ohio, earning both his bachelor's and master’s degrees. During the summers he worked as a psychiatric aide.

Dave was proud of his military service. He was drafted by the U.S. Marine Corps in 1951 during the Korean War. Following boot camp, he served for a year at Parris Island, South Carolina as a Classification Clerk, administering psychological tests to recruits to assign them occupations. He spent a second year as the Unit Diary Clerk of Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-311 in South Korea, serving with John Glenn and Ted Williams. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant in November 1953 and returned to his temporary home at the Walker Missionary Home in Auburndale, Massachusetts.

Dave met Margaret "Peggy" Collings while working on his Ph.D. in Psychology at Boston University and interning at Veterans Administration psychiatric hospitals. May of 1960 was an eventful month: Dave graduated and the happy couple married. Together they raised two children, Janet and Bruce.

Peggy and Dave lived in Kingston, NY while Dave worked as a staff psychologist at IBM Corporation. At that time, IBM manufactured gymnasium-sized computers for the Early Warning System. After a short stint working at Princeton University counseling service, Dave became the Director of the Counseling Service at Bucknell University and he and Peggy moved to Lewisburg in 1963. Beginning as the only counseling psychologist for the Bucknell students, Dave grew Psych Services into a team of four full-time psychologists providing a full range of academic, vocational and personal counseling, as well as diagnostic psychological testing. During the summer he did institutional research, publishing a dozen papers in academic journals. After 28 years of service to Bucknell, Dave retired, though he continued his research for Bucknell for another decade.

In his younger years, Dave enjoyed skiing, hiking, biking, sailing, and motorcycling. He sang with the Buffalo Valley Singers for several years, and his love of classical music was life-long. He and Peggy attended the First Baptist Church in Lewisburg. They loved to travel, visiting England, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, and China. Travel provided great material for Dave, as he was an avid photographer. He and Peggy enjoyed showing slides from their trips to their friends.

Dave and Peggy celebrated 64 years of marriage. Their daughter, Janet C. Wilder, lives with her husband Dale Kutyna and son, Roger Kutyna, in Arlington, MA. Their son, Bruce E. Wilder, lives with his wife Trish in Brattleboro, VT. Dave and Peggy lived at RiverWoods for 15 years after downsizing from their home on 21st Street in Lewisburg.

Dave passed peacefully after a long decline. The family is deeply grateful to the team of devoted caregivers who took wonderful care of Dave, and provided support and friendship to Peggy.

In addition to his wife, two children and grandson, Dave is survived by his younger brother, Donald R. Wilder, and sister-in-law, Dorothy Wilder, and numerous nieces and nephews. Dave was pre-deceased by his two older brothers, Charles E. Wilder, M.D. and the Rev. John W. Wilder, and by his sisters-in-law, Alison Wilder (Don’s wife) and Nancy Wilder (Charles’ wife).

A celebration of life service is being planned and will be announced here at a later date. If so moved, you are invited to make a donation to the charity of your choice in David’s memory.