David Gould

Ian David Gould (known as David Gould) was born on 8 February 1932 in Loughton, United Kingdom. He was a twin and the youngest of five children. His father died when David was only 15 years old. David qualified in London, UK, as a Chartered Accountant, and then went to work in Iraq where he met Ruth Mickelsen, who was a missionary nurse midwife there. Ruth grew up on a farm in North Dakota, USA.

David and Ruth married on 25 July 1959, and made their home in Ontario, Canada. David then studied theology, philosophy and psychology at McMaster University. During those studies they had four children, Gwyneth, Cindy, Ian and Geoff. In 1971 they moved to Southern Africa, to help start a university in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (eSwatini). After this, they felt led to answer a prayer request to go work in Gabane Village in Botswana to help create local employment and lived there without electricity and running water for a time.

David later worked as a corporate executive in South Africa. They lived in Southern Africa for 38 years. In 2009 they moved to Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada where they lived until 2023, and then moved to Nanaimo. Gwyneth lives in Vancouver, Cindy in Nanaimo, Ian in New Zealand, and Geoff in South Africa.

David is survived by Ruth, his four children, ten grandchildren and three great grandchildren.