David William Barden

He grew up in Ridgefield Park, NJ. After serving in the US Army he graduated from Rutgers University with a postgraduate degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. He was a teacher at the primary and secondary school levels in Sparta, NJ and finished his educational career as a guidance counselor at the Sparta Junior High School. For many summers, he was the Program Director at Camp Coniston (Grantham, NH). Amidst all of his leadership roles and contributions, he is most remembered for his campfire ghost stories.

Post retirement, Dave spent time actively counseling and volunteering at Pope John High School (Sparta, NJ), Camp Mason (Hardwick, NJ) and youth mentoring with Big Brothers (Sparta, NJ).

Dave was a dedicated member of the Andover United Methodist Church (Andover, NJ) and Kearsage Presbyterian Church (New London, NH). He volunteered for many years at The New London Hospital (New London, NH), The Fells Historical Society (Newbury, NH), and at Kearsage Presbyterian Church, where he established a successful food pantry.

He loved spending time with family, friends, and serving the community. He enjoyed the great outdoors, camping, stargazing, and running (too many medals to count including FIVE marathons). He cherished and looked forward to conversations and activities with respected colleagues, youth, and young adults. We could go on and on, however his wishes were “keep it short.”

Dave Barden is survived by his loving wife, D. Fay Barden; sister, Elaine Barden; children, Lisa Schroeder (Robert Schroeder) and Jeff Barden (Stacy Alderman); and grandchildren, Diana and Stephen Schroeder.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 3:00 PM on December 30th at Covenant Living PAC in Keene, NH.

For those in New Jersey, a Celebration of David's life will be held on Sunday, March 3, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Hanover Manor, 16 Eagle Rock Ave, East Hanover, NJ.

We treasure your thoughts and prayers. For those who would like to honor Dave with a charitable donation in lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider:

KCPC, Feed the Freezer program (please contact Fay or Jeff), Covenant Living Trust Fund (Designation: Covenant Living of Keene-benevolent care), or to a local youth program of your choice. Links available below.