David Harvey Yoder, 91, was born Oct. 10, 1931, in Meyersdale, Pa., and he died peacefully at Mon Health Medical Center in Morgantown on Feb. 23, 2023. He was preceded in death by his parents, George Ernest and Lena (Bender) Yoder, brothers, Richard and Omar; and his youngest sister, Delilah, who is presumed deceased after going missing in Ecuador in 1976.
In 1957, David graduated from Goshen College (IN) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. Later he twice pursued graduate study in Austria: first as an opera student in Vienna, and later as a visiting scholar in Graz. In 1964, David married Ruby (Shenk) Yoder and they had two sons in Morgantown, where David co-founded multiple development companies. He served as president of Home Builders Associations at the county and state levels and was named life director of the National Association of Homebuilders.
David’s greatest joys were playing with his grandchildren, hunting deer in the Allegheny Mountains, planning challenging building projects, reminiscing with relatives at family reunions, operating excavators and pouring concrete, attending WVU football and basketball games, savoring pies baked by his sisters and leading four-part singing as a member of Springs Mennonite Church.
David is survived by loving sons, Jon (Sue) Yoder, of Stow, Ohio, and Robert (Janna) Yoder, of Morgantown; grandchildren, Sophia, Gabriel and Gavin; sisters, Miriam (Tom) Lindeman, of Springs, Pa., Ida Yoder, of Kensington, Md., Eleanor (Ralph) Yoder Nucelli, of Gettysburg, Pa., and Freda Yoder, of Springs, Pa.; and sister-in-law, Helen (Omar) Yoder of Darlington, England.
