David William McKay

David William McKay, 77, passed away peacefully at home in Woodstock, VA on April 23, 2024.

David was born on September 30, 1946, in Boston, Massachusetts to Elizabeth (Swift) McKay and Kenneth McKay. He is survived by his wife and love of over 56 years, Patricia Diane Walter McKay; his daughters, Jessamy McKay Ackerman (Zack), Gina McKay, and Elissa McKay Pennington (Derek); his sister, Helen (McKay) Lesser; and his grandsons, Rylan Ackerman, Logan Pennington, and Graham Pennington.

David was proudest of his family; his 20 years working as an ambulance inspector for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS); and being a co-founder of the Academy at Charlemont, a small, independent secondary school in western Massachusetts which is still providing a classical, liberal arts education and teaching the value of honor and service to middle and high school students 43 years after the school was established. David actively served his local Charlemont community as a volunteer firefighter, EMT, and as a town selectman.

After retiring from OEMS in 1993, David moved to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia with Pat and his daughters, and for the past several years has enjoyed living in the retirement house that he designed. David had a passion for cooking, cars, and finding the humor in this not-always-humorous world. His witty banter and gift for coming up with puns was truly one of a kind; he could either have you searching Google for the obscure reference needed to truly “get” it or could have his daughters saying “oh, father!” for the more down to earth dad-jokes. He instilled in his family an appreciation for good food and laughter and made watching Jeopardy somewhat of an unstructured family sport at the dinner table. He was also fiercely proud of his Scottish heritage, and he treasured his noble dogs who loved him back over the years - Frida, Sam, Chloe, Megan and Fergus.

David was preceded in death by his mother and father.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Annual Fund or the McKay Arts Scholarship Fund of the Academy at Charlemont at https://www.charlemont.org/give/donate-online/, or to the World Food Bank Foundation at https://wfbfoundation.org/.

Final arrangements will be private, and no funeral service will be held - just lift a glass of scotch in his honor and tell a really good “dad” joke.

Thanks to the Blue Ridge Hospice staff for their assistance and kindness to David and his family.

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