David Gewanter

David Gewanter, a highly regarded physics and mathematics teacher for nearly 50 years, died peacefully on April 15 with his wife, Suzanne Drapeau, at his side. He was 74. Mr. Gewanter was diagnosed with glioblastoma in November 2021. He lived in Simsbury for 40 years before moving to Washington, CT, in 2015.
He was born in Brooklyn, NY, on Dec. 14, 1947. Among his fondest childhood memories was learning to sail on Sheepshead Bay with his dad and brother. A precocious learner, he became fascinated by electricity and won the citywide Westinghouse Science Award for building his own computer at age 12. He got his first taste of teaching at age 13, tutoring his peers at Midwood High School.
Mr. Gewanter studied electrical engineering at Columbia University before conducting research on radar during the Vietnam War. After moving to Connecticut, he became enamored of outdoor pursuits and returned to his true calling as a science educator, completing degrees in electrical engineering and secondary science teaching at the University of Hartford. He developed a robust curriculum in the science of survival, a summer wilderness/survival course in alternative education that evolved into an Environmental Physics course at Simsbury High School, where he taught for 33 years.
While teaching full-time, he completed a National Outdoor Leadership program and earned a master's degree in environmental science and technology at Rensselaer/Hartford Graduate Center. He coached the boys' varsity tennis team and advised the ham radio and outing clubs, leading students on numerous rock climbing, mountaineering, and skiing trips.
In 1991, he taught in Szolnok, Hungary, on a yearlong Fulbright Scholarship exchange program, bringing his family overseas and returning after the program via the Trans-Siberian Railway through Russia, with stops in China and Southeast Asia before arriving back in Connecticut. He served on the international education committee of the American Association of Physics Teachers and was a frequent invited speaker at overseas physics education conferences. He participated in several National Science Foundation initiatives to develop K-8 teacher expertise.
After retiring from Simsbury Public Schools in 2003, he taught at John Jay High School in South Salem, NY, from 2006 to 2013. At John Jay, he was voted most inspiring teacher, and led colleagues and one of the first groups of U.S. high school students on a visit to The Large Hadron Collider/CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, during CERN's research on the Higgs boson or Higgs particle.
He taught at various high schools in Connecticut after retiring from John Jay, and ultimately retired in June 2021 from The Gilbert School in Winsted, CT. A former student said that he taught students "to be honest with ourselves and others, to learn by doing and to make the most of our lives." Both in and out of the classroom, he always taught that gratitude and joy were essential to good living, and emphasized the importance of love and kindness in all one's affairs.
An avid and talented tennis player, he accepted every opportunity for a match. He was devoted to environmental stewardship and served on the Western Connecticut Clean Air Action Committee, the Washington Conservation Commission, and the Washington Environmental Council.
He was a lifelong audiophile and was a member of the Connecticut Audio Society. He produced folk music concerts at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton, CT, in the 1980s. A car enthusiast, he owned and drove a 1973 British Triumph TR6 for more than 50 years.
In addition to his wife of 33 years, survivors include his stepson, Ben Moylen; brother Alan Gewanter of Ottsville, PA; aunt Niecie Grayson, and several cousins in New York City and Colorado. A lifelong animal lover, he also leaves his beloved cat, Bela Victoria Bartok.
An interfaith memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Salem Covenant Church, 96 Baldwin Hill Road, Washington Depot, CT. Reception immediately following at the church. Flowers can be sent to the church.
Donations in his memory can be given to The Washington Environmental Council in Washington, CT. www.wec-ct.org/donate.