Dr. Ronald B. David

Ronald Brian David, MD of Topping, died on Friday, November 27, 2025, he was a native Virginian who boasted having visited fifty states and fifty countries in his eighty-eight years. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Edwin David and Nettie Goldenberg David. His sister Karen was born four years later. They lived in what is now the Museum District of Richmond in his early years.
When Ron was twelve years old, the family was living in New York with his mother's extended family. In that year, Nettie died suddenly at the age of thirty-seven. Karen was then raised by her maternal grandparents, while Ron went to live as a foster son in a Mennonite family in the Denbigh area of Newport News. His foster parents, Lloyd Weaver Sr and Sara Weaver, provided the steadfast guidance and structure needed to raise a bright and strong-willed boy.
Ron attended Eastern Mennonite High School and Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He completed two years of conscientious objector alternative service as a high school science teacher in Pennsylvania, before enrolling in medical school at the Medical College of Virginia (now VCU Medical Center). He completed his Internship in Pediatrics at the Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania, and his Residency in Pediatrics at MCV. He completed his Fellowship training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and ultimately earned his certification in both Adult and Pediatric Neurology.
Following his fellowship, Ron and his young family returned to Richmond, and Ron joined the faculty at MCV in Pediatric Neurology, before entering private practice. He was always fond of telling folks that he had been in practice for fifty-four years and had seen over 28,000 patients. He and Susan (who worked alongside him in later years) retired in June 2024 when Ron was eighty-six.
Ron was a pillar in the Pediatric community of Richmond for over five decades. He also maintained satellite offices in Newport News and Kilmarnock. In recent years, he devoted himself especially to caring for children with developmental disabilities and autism, while continuing to follow some patients into adulthood for whom he had cared since they were children. He was especially proud to be considered the "go-to guy" for autism diagnosis, working closely with the expert colleagues of Virginia Center for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities (VCARDD). He served for many years on the board of Commonwealth Autism Services, and was a founder of Northstar Academy in Richmond, which serves many atypical learners. He was also a proud member of The Doctors Mayo Society.
Ron was a founder of Key Humanitarian Initiative for Southern Honduras (KHISH), which began bringing medical and dental care to underserved communities in 2005. In 2009, Ron "had the vision" of expanding the services of KHISH to include eye care. In fourteen annual "brigades" since 2011, KHISH has provided comprehensive eye exams to many thousands, and restored sight to over twenty-five hundred individuals through cataract surgery. Ron personally led these brigades until 2020, when he handed over the leadership of KHISH to Susan.
Ron was an adventure traveler. He proudly celebrated having been to the North Pole, to Antarctica (twice!), and to Mount Everest (he said that this made him "tripolar"). He sailed to the Southern Pacific Ocean on the Picton Castle, an antique barque, when he was sixty-five years old.
Ron was preceded in death by his mother, Nettie Goldenberg; his father, Edwin David; his sister, Karen Finn; his foster mother, Sara Weaver; his foster father, Lloyd Weaver Sr; his foster sister, Sara Jane (Weaver) Wenger and her husband Chester Wenger; his foster brother, Lloyd Weaver Jr and his wife Sarah Marie; his foster brother Kenneth Weaver and his wife June Marie; his foster sister-in-law Sarah Weaver; and his former wife, Rhoda Dillon, the mother of his children.
He is survived by his wife Susan Lewis Pillsbury David, his son R.Bryan David (Jamie), his daughter Susan Staub (Scott), his daughter Elizabeth Kurtz, his son Thomas David (Amy), and his foster brother Samuel Weaver. He also leaves behind ten grandchildren and one great grandson, John Michael Levorse.III. Additionally, he leaves behind three step-children: (Adam Pillsbury (Meg Bianco), Molly Burks (Ryan Jones), and Abigail Genazia (Adam), and four step-grandchildren, as well as beloved Shawke Soueidan and Christopher Burks.
He will be deeply missed by his former colleagues, coworkers, patients, and friends–especially his longtime running buddy Grover Robinson, and Wayne Parks (whom he loved dearly despite–or maybe because of–the fact that Wayne was a Yankees fan).
Ron also leaves to cherish his memory his Honduran "family," especially the Moreno family, Edwin Carbajal Hernandez, Melvin Tejada and his family (Lorena, Alejandra Rivera Tejada and her husband Drew Diaz, and Maria Jose), and Beatriz and Marvin Hernandez.
Ron's memorial service will be private. He will be laid to rest in the churchyard of his beloved Immanuel Episcopal Church in Old Church (Mechanicsville), Virginia.
In memory of Dr. Ron, please consider contributing to the Key Humanitarian Initiative for Southern Honduras www.KHISHProjectVision.com or PO Box 470, Topping, VA 23169.
Services under the direction of Hogg Funeral Home.