David William Packer

David William Packer passed away peacefully in his sleep early Thursday morning, July 8 ^th at his Huckins Farm home in Bedford MA.  He was loved dearly and will be missed by all.

David was born on November 25 ^th Thanksgiving Day, 1937 in St. Louis, Missouri. After several short moves his family settled in Des Moines, IA, where he attended Roosevelt High School. He went sight unseen, to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He earned two degrees: electrical engineering and science and humanities. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and stayed very close to his fraternity brothers throughout his life. He went right on to get an MS in Industrial Design (System Dynamics) from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He studied System Dynamics with Professor Jay Forrester who would go on to become a life-long friend and mentor.

Dave eventually settled in Bedford, MA which he called home for the rest of his life. His career with Digital Equipment took him to Geneva, Switzerland in 1970 to help establish the DEC European headquarters; the family relocated to the Geneva area for three years, before returning to Bedford.

After a long and celebrated career at DEC, David took early retirement and became active in the International Systems Dynamics Society, and started a small consulting partnership focusing on systems thinking and system dynamics.

He loved to travel and experience the world. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t try at least once. He and his wife Ginny sponsored two Laotian families and 3 nine-month hostings of AFS students, one each from Mexico, Ecuador and Russia. They also went on a two-week peacemaking journey to Israel and Palestine in 2007.

He enjoyed reading, writing and listening to all kinds of music. He wrote a memoir of which he was particularly proud: “Finding Joy: A Life Explored”. But through all his world travels and experiences he never lost that dry, Midwest, IA sense of humor which always kept his friends and family laughing.

Dave was predeceased by his first wife Susan (Thompson) in 1983, and now survived by his loving wife of 34 years, Virginia (Denig Wiley); his son David and wife Susie (David III, Tom. Samantha, and Courtney) of Denver, CO; his daughter Sarah and husband Willem Wals (Laura) of the Netherlands; and his son Eric and wife Lisette (Ben, Ryan, Nate, and Eric) of Willmington, MA;  step-children Kristen and husband Shep Thorp (Oscar, Mallory and Emma) of Brown’s Point, WA; and Craig and wife Lauren Wiley (Amelia and Leo) of Redmond, WA. He loved being “Papa” to 14 grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Bedford Citizen ( TheBedfordCitizen.org ) or to The Home for Little Wanderers ( TheHome.org ). A Celebration of Life service will be held this fall.