David Marsden Wells

David Marsden Wells died peacefully with his wife and family at his side on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at the Sunrise at Mount Vernon. David was born on July 23, 1932 in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Edwin Finley Wells and Jeannette Iva Brown Wells.

He is survived by his beloved wife of almost 58 years, Elizabeth Fortson Wells; son, William Fortson Wells and wife, Leslie; grandson, Alexander Fortson Wells; sisters, Sandra Tyler W. Floyd and husband, H.N. and Betty Jean W. Robuck and husband, Lloyd, and cousins, nephews, and nieces.

He was a life-long sailor, with his first solo sailing on the Inland Waterway near Southport, North Carolina, at the age of seven. He attended New Hanover High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, Toccoa Falls College, in Toccoa, Georgia, earned a B.A. in English from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana and earned a M.A. and Ph. D in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, North Carolina, Randolf-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia and Northern Virginia Community College in Fairfax County, Virginia, before retiring from teaching to become a computer analyst for the United States Military Traffic Management Command within the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command for more than 20 years. He joined the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, a volunteer organization supporting the United States Coast Guard in 1989 and taught Boating Skills and Seamanship and Sailing Skills and Seamanship to recreational boaters through the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary in Northern Virginia for more than 25 years.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Iva Jeannette W. Houck Metzgar and his parents.

A graveside service will be conducted by clergy from St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Forest Park Cemetery, St. Vincent followed by interment in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.  

A memorial service will be held at Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia at a later date.