David Wildon Carr

1945 - 2016
David was always happy to learn more and that made him an exceptional teacher and mentor to his students, family, and friends. He was generous in sharing what he knew and he loved to make connections with others he met along the way, whether it was a shared appreciation of a book or the unexpected discovery that his new acquaintances now lived in the house he grew up in hundreds of miles away. David created stories for his grandchildren, happily played Legos, and accepted direction of what role he was to take in their play.

Within his family he took, archived, and shared family photographs and stories. In the neighborhood he was the man who provided and stocked the Little Free Library and geocache and who was frequently outside creating more gardens. He was - as he encouraged everyone else to be - always learning, whether it was about a historical era, Scandinavian crime fiction, or The Octonauts. There also was so much that he was looking forward to learning and doing and so much that we will all miss sharing with him.

David taught at Rutgers University in the College of Education and the School of Information and Library Science and then at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He loved teaching and his students knew that and responded to his own enthusiasm. His mentoring relationships turned to strong and warm friendships as his students moved into their own careers and lives.

David's work with museums such as the Strong Museum, the Indianapolis Children's Museum, and the Queens Museum of Art led to his sharing of what he was learning about the interplay between these institutions and the learning possible within them in
The Promise of Cultural Institutions (2003), A Place Not a Place (2006), and Open Conversations (2011). At the time of his death he was writing more essays for a new collection as well as preparing for the 2017 keynote address, "Museums and Their Publics in Sites of Conflicted History," for an international conference being held at the POLIN Museum in Warsaw, Poland.

David was born in Morristown, NJ to Clifford and Marie Carr. His survivors include: his wife, Carol; his daughters, Eve Carr and Anna Halsey; his sons-in-law, David Dixon and Brett Halsey; his grandchildren, Maxwell Halsey, Jasper Dixon, and Ella Halsey, and a network of extended family, friends, colleagues, and others whose lives he touched. He cared deeply about all and would wish them all rich and long lives as learners, thinkers, and readers.

Memorial donations may be made in lieu of flowers to The Leukemia And Lymphoma Society, the Hospice Atlanta Center, the Queens Museum of Art, First Book, or any group that promotes help to others. Or just read a good book, or go to a museum, and think of David.