Former Bluffton resident David Joseph Rempel Smucker, 71, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, died March 12, 2021, following a long and courageous struggle with kidney disease.

Click here to read a column titled "Remembering Dave Smucker."

David was born April 9, 1949, in Bluffton, Ohio, the youngest child of Carl F. and Irene M. (Yoder) Smucker. David graduated from Bluffton High School in 1967, attended Bluffton College and Oberlin (Ohio) College, graduating from Oberlin in 1971. He earned a Master's of Arts and Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary in Connecticut in 1973.

He received a Ph.D. in 1981 from Boston University in Christian church history and American religion, with a focus on the sources of gospel music in the United States.

From 1981 to 2003 David worked at the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Mennonite Historical Society as researcher and editor of Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage. 

On April 1, 1984 he married Judith Rempel. In 1985-86 he and Judith lived in Basel, Switzerland, where she attended graphic design school and he pursued historical and genealogical research in Switzerland, France, and Germany. 

David and Judith moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2012. 

David is survived by Judith Rempel Smucker, his wife of 37 years; his sister, Mary (Ron) Conrad; his two children, Annali Smucker-Bryan (Zacary); Levi Yoder Smucker (Rebecca); and two grandchildren, Ada and Leona. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother Larry Smucker (Fauzia Rashid).

A virtual memorial service is Tuesday, March 23 at 6 p.m. CDT. Contact Home Street Mennonite Church (204-783-1721) to receive the link. An additional musical celebration of David’s life will take place at a later date. Donations in David’s memory may be made to The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada at https://thehymnsociety.org.

Friends may share in a photo-tribute, eulogy, stories and condolences for the family by visiting David’s memorial page at IntegrityDeathCare.com