David Anthony Gerard was born on November 13, 1950, in Wolcott, Connecticut, to Anthony and Mary Gerard. David was first attracted to the Religious Society of Friends through observing the social activism of Quakers he met. He had been politically active for some years when he was accepted into membership by Santa Cruz Monthly Meeting on June 16, 2016, and was beginning his service representing California’s 19th Congressional District as a delegate for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Before that time, he had served one contentious term on the Board of Education in Morgan Hill and became known for his political activism. David was active with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, both at the national level (attending meetings and lobbying in Washington, D.C.), and at the local level as a member of the Santa Cruz Advocacy Team.
With his training and degrees (B.A. in Social Studies and M.A. and Ph.D. in social-clinical psychology), his career was focused on organizational psychology.
The spiritual focus of Quakers grew more important to him as he struggled with cancer for nine years before his death. He regularly made the long drive from his home in Morgan Hill to attend Meeting in Santa Cruz and often expressed how grateful he was to be a part of the Quaker community. He was an important part of our Meeting’s life, editing and distributing our monthly newsletter for several years, doing that job even during crises with his health. David’s final meeting for worship was from his hospital bed on February 28, 2021, via Zoom, during the coronavirus epidemic. He died three days later at Stanford Hospital at the age of 70, with his wife, Miho, and his sons, Pierre and Justin, by his side. Besides his wife and sons, he is survived by his siblings Ann, Ellen, Joyce, Leon and Richard. David’s ashes will be interred in Taiwan.