David Kirkpatrick, Jr

David W. Kirkpatrick, Jr. was a 1947 graduate of Bennington High School, Bennington, VT. A Former high school history teacher and social studies department chairman, in Easton, PA, and was a teaching fellow at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. He held a B.S. in Education from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (North Adams State College) and was their first Distinguished Alumni Award recipient in 1972. He had an M.A. in History from Lehigh University and was a William Robertson Coe Fellow at Stanford University. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force 1947-1950 and also attended the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) Prep School.

He was Communication Director for PA Governor Milton Shapp and the chief legislative analyst for the PA State Senate Education Committee. In 1978 he wrote a five-year Master Plan for Higher Education for the PA State Committee for Higher Education. He was a co-founder and the first Executive Director of The REACH Alliance, advocates for school choice in Pennsylvania. He has published hundreds of articles and two books, including CHOICE IN SCHOOLING, Loyola University (Chicago) Press, 1990, Alternate Selection of the Conservative Book Club.

He was President of the Pennsylvania State Education (PSEA) 1970-71, President of the Easton Area Education Association, and Director of Policy and Legislation for the Association of Pennsylvania State Colleges and University Faculties (APSCUF). He was a Distinguished Fellow of the former Blum Center at Marquette University in Milwaukee; a Senior Fellow for Teacher Choice at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution then in Arlington, Virginia; and 2003-2008 Senior Education Fellow and writer for SchoolReport, a weekly internet service for the US Freedom Foundation. In 1991 he was a delegate to the White House Conference on Libraries. Dave was also featured in an article in "Teacher Magazine" May/June 1997.

In the 1960s he was the Executive Producer/Narrator of a 17 program public television series "The History of the Lehigh Valley" for WLVT-TV, Bethlehem, PA; the Executive Producer, Researcher, Writer and Moderator for a half-hour TV series called "The Public Sector"; and the Producer and Narrator for the program "Once a Way of Life".

David died peacefully at home. He was 89 years old.

He is survived by his wife Norma Kirkpatrick, sons Michael C. Kirkpatrick, husband of Maree Kirkpatrick of Mountaintop, PA and Scott B. Kirkpatrick, husband of Genevieve Kirkpatrick of Mechanicsburg, PA and his daughter Susan E. Kirkpatrick of Indiana, PA and his 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Dorothy DePollo of Bennington, VT. He was preceded in death by his brother William in 1931 and by his son Mark D. in 2013.

The family will receive relatives and friends in Bean Funeral Home, 6 Fairlane Road, Exeter Township, Wednesday, October 3, 2018 6:30-8:30 pm. Interment with Military Honors will be held Thursday, October 4, 2018 at 1:00 pm in Bennington Village Cemetery, Bennington, Vermont. Online condolences may be made at www.beanfuneralhomes.com