David Edwin Will, of Astoria, Queens, passed away on April 8, 2020 at the age of 90 at Regal
Heights Nursing Home. Although he was never tested, he had Covid-19 symptoms and it is
assumed he died of Covid-19. David was born May 14th, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He earned his Bachelor’s in Psychology, Religion and Philosophy from Hanover College in
Indiana, and pursued a Master’s in Psychometrics. In 1955, Mr. Will married Rosalyn Nell
Bailey, also from Pittsburgh. They moved to the Upper West Side of New York in the mid-
fifties before moving to Astoria, Queens in 1958, where they still have a home.
David worked as a Systems Analyst at the YWCA for 28 years, after which he worked as a
Bookkeeper for New York’s Center for Immigrants Rights. Throughout his life, he was
heavily involved in social justice work, focusing his passion on workers’ rights, immigrants’
rights, racial justice, gun control, ending homelessness, and nuclear disarmament. To this
end, he pursued the equivalent of a second Master’s, in Labor Studies, at Cornell University.
Over the course of his sixty-year affiliation with the Unitarian Universalist faith, largely at
All Souls Unitarian Church, and also at Community Church UU and the former Hollis
Unitarian Universalist Church, he served on or worked closely with several committees,
most notably the Budget Committee, the Gun Control Task Force, and the Nuclear
Disarmament Task Force at All Souls in the 1980s. He attended the Unitarian Universalist
Association’s General Assembly as a delegate for several years.
David was also an avid music appreciator. He enjoyed playing piano and, along with
Rosalyn, composed over 50 hymns and folk songs. He was an active member of the
Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network, with pieces performed at their annual
conference and at All Souls.
David is survived by his sister Judy; his wife Rosalyn; his children Lindsay, Julie, Eric, and
Scott and fiancée Linnea; his granddaughter M. Adrian and wife Rose; and his niece Jeanne.
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