David Louis Crowner, age 87, died peacefully on April 19th at home in Gettysburg, PA, from aggressive brain cancer. He dedicated his life to making his local community and the world a better place. Born on September 17, 1938, in Brainerd, Minnesota, he was the son of Louis Carl, a Lutheran pastor, and Linnea Marie. The family moved to Bell, California (a suburb of Los Angeles), when he was two. Dave’s early years were spent at Grace Lutheran Church, singing in the choir and learning to help those in need.
Dave attended Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Mooring Mast. At college, Dave participated in protests at PLU, including a successful campaign to get students to stop dressing up in blackface at the school’s annual talent show. In January 1961, Dave called on fellow students to become activists with his own quote, “Great character, typical of individuals who forge the course of humanity, requires conviction, vision, and hard work. This comes from a stirring heart. And that must begin now.”
He attended an ecumenical conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he met students from other countries who shared his interests and values, instilling in him a desire to travel and learn more about other people and cultures. This experience encouraged him to concentrate his studies in German at PLU.
His life changed during a German intensive summer camp at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, when he met the love of his life and soon-to-be wife, Pat. During and after summer camp, they wrote love letters only in German. Dave and Pat married after college on August 17, 1962, in Springfield, Illinois, and soon moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey, so Dave could earn his Master’s and pursue his PhD at Rutgers University. They had their first child, Michael, in 1963.
Dave’s activism intensified when he joined a chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He traveled to Washington, D.C., for the August 28, 1963, March on Washington to protest America’s racist policies of segregation. Standing near the front of the enormous crowd, he heard every word of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, leaving him with the profound feeling of having participated in something truly special. His commitment continued, leading to his arrest alongside famed civil rights founder James Farmer at the opening of the World’s Fair in New York on April 22, 1964. The protest was in favor of the controversial Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, which passed several months later.
The Crowners moved to Oneonta, NY, where Dave taught German at Hartwick College. This is where they had their second child, Karen, in May 1965. After Dave completed his PhD in 1966, the family moved to Gettysburg, PA, where Dave began his career as a professor at Gettysburg College, where he taught until 2001. Shortly after moving to Gettysburg, Dave and Pat found their forever home in the Twin Oaks neighborhood. In the early 1970s, Dave was a founder of Gettysburg’s American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and volunteered as a referee and referee administrator for decades, still officiating games at age 80.
In 1971, Dave and Pat had their third child, Matthew. A few years later, for a sabbatical, they packed up the family and moved to Germany for a year. The Crowner family met up with their best friends, Jerry and Carol Christianson, and their children, who lived in Geneva, Switzerland, also on a year’s sabbatical. Their time in Germany was a formative year for the family. The Crowners returned home and became foster parents to several young people.
Dave actively championed causes of equality throughout his life. In the early 1970s, he worked to expand housing opportunities for people of color in Gettysburg. He was a lifetime member of the Interfaith Center for Peace and Justice (ICPJ), serving in many capacities. In recognition of his enduring work in the community, the ICPJ honored him with the Lifetime of Peacemaking Award in 2011. He received the Living the Dream Award in 2019 for advancing equality, presented jointly by the YWCA of Gettysburg and United Way of Adams County during the 39th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration at Gettysburg College.
His commitment to international service was equally profound. Dave was instrumental in founding Project Gettysburg-Léon (PGL), the sister-city project linking Gettysburg with Léon, Nicaragua. He served as PGL’s Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President, and President, and personally led hundreds of students on service-learning trips to Nicaragua during and after his time at Gettysburg College. In 2010, he and Pat continued their global service, volunteering in Tanzania, Africa, at a primary school for children with physical disabilities.
Dave and Pat regularly supported a wide range of local and global organizations, including: Amnesty International, the ASPCA, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Coast Guard fund, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Defense Fund, Feeding America, Gettysburg Area High School Dollars for Scholars, Gettysburg Community Theatre, Lutheran World Relief, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Smithsonian, St. James Lutheran Church, UNICEF, and the World Wildlife Fund.
Significant professional accomplishments in German studies marked Dave’s academic career at Gettysburg College. He was an active member of professional organizations, including the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, the American Association of Teachers of German, and Torch International. He also published several influential books, such as German for Mastery (1980), co-authored Impulse: Kommunikatives Deutsch für die Mittelstufe (1995), and co-wrote Spirituality of the German Awakening (2002) with Jerry Christianson.
Sailing was one of Dave and Pat’s deepest passions and a lifelong pursuit. It started small on a sailboat that he raced at Lake Marburg outside of Hanover, but soon grew into bigger adventures on their Beneteau 351 on the Chesapeake Bay. Together, they were fearless on the water, sailing up to New England and down to Florida, and chartering boats to explore the Greek islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Their love for travel and adventure included tent camping across the United States in their younger years, as well as trips to Costa Rica, Egypt, Europe, New Zealand (including a helicopter landing on a glacier), Panama, and Cajamarca, Peru, where they set up a service-learning project. Demonstrating their continued commitment to service, Dave also helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity in El Salvador with Pat and their grandson Alex.
David was predeceased by his devoted wife, Pat. His legacy is carried on by his brother Paul and his wife, Corrine; his son, Michael “Mike”; his daughter Karen and her husband John, and their children, Alex, Kyle, and Max; his son Matthew and his wife Lexie, and their children, Lily and Garrett; and his beloved dog and constant companion, Hannah.
Dave had a profound appreciation for the many friends and family in his life. To honor him, you are welcome to donate to the Crowner Fund for Adams County through the Adams County Community Foundation.
Funeral services for David will be held at 11:00 AM, Saturday, May 16, 2026, at St. James Lutheran Church, 109 York St., Gettysburg, PA. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg. The family will receive friends from 10:00 AM until the time of the service, Saturday morning at the church. The Monahan Funeral Home is assisting the family with funeral arrangements, and online condolences may be made at monahanfuneralhome.com.