Dr. David L. Eiler, 80, North Manchester, IN died at 1:00 p.m. Monday, January 7, 2008 in his residence.

David Lemoine Eiler was born to Austin and Edna Eiler on March 3, 1927, in Chicago, Illinois, where his father was studying at Bethany Bible Training School. His mother was a schoolteacher and homemaker. His father was a schoolteacher, farmer and minister. They moved to Nampa, Idaho in 1929 and this is where, along with his younger brother Paul, sister Anne, and cousin Lee, he grew up.

David graduated from Nampa High School in 1944. He then attended McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, for one year. He helped his father on the Idaho farm for 2 years and then returned to school, attending Manchester College in N. Manchester, Indiana for 3 years. He graduated in 1950 with a AB degree in chemistry.

After college he served for one year in Brethren Volunteer Service in Baltimore, Maryland. It was there he met Ruth Holsopple from Iowa, who came to Baltimore to take part in a summer work camp. They were married on June 8, 1952, in Ruth's home church near South English, Iowa. Soon after their marriage they moved to Chicago, Illinois, where David attended Bethany Biblical Seminary and earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1956. They moved to Princeton, New Jersey, in 1957, where David worked in the Th.M program in New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. He studied in the doctoral program in Old Testament from 1958 to 1962, and taught Biblical Hebrew as a teaching assistant.

Meanwhile the family had grown, giving birth to daughter Janis in 1955, and daughter Lois in 1958. They moved to McPherson, Kansas in 1962, where David was a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at McPherson College until 1969. While there he finished work for his Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. The Eilers moved to North Manchester, Indiana in 1969, where David taught at Manchester College in the Department of Religion and Philosophy until 1992, serving as Chair of that department for several of those years. During those years he lead two summer study trips, one to Israel and the second to Egypt. He also had two sabbatical leaves, the first to Cambridge University in Cambridge, England, the second to Claremont Graduate School in California.

David's lifetime interests and activities outside of his profession included world travel, birding, butterfly and moth collecting, nature photography as well as global environmental issues. He and his family enjoyed many summer trips in the US and Canada, camping in a travel trailer. Other places he ventured, either with Ruth or the entire family, were to Mexico, Africa and Europe, taking advantage of every opportunity to travel that came his way. His interest in butterflies and moths started as a childhood hobby. Between 1975 and 2001 he traveled with collecting groups to West Malaysia, Brazil and Kenya, and collected through out the US, often with published collector and longtime friend Ernest Shull. Since that time he donated hundreds of beautifully preserved and well documented specimens to the University of Florida's History Museum.

He started watching birds soon after moving to N. Manchester. In 1975 he was a founding member of the Tippecanoe Chapter of the National Audubon Society, spending two years as chapter president and many years as newsletter editor. One of his favorite activities was organizing and participating in the yearly winter bird count.

David was always a very active member in the Manchester Church of the Brethren. In 2002 David and Ruth moved into a neighborhood home on Hickory Lane in the Timbercrest retirement community, where they lived together until Ruth passed away on October 7, 2007. David is survived by his brother Paul Eiler, of N.Manchester, IN and his sister Anne McKellip, who lives in Nampa, Idaho. His cousin Lee Basham, who was raised with him like a sister, lives in Collierville, TN. His daughter Janis is a physician in Cincinnati, Ohio and has two daughters. His daughter Lois is an entrepreneur and homemaker in Roswell, Georgia, and has a son.

A memorial service was held Saturday, January 19 in Manchester Church of the Brethren. Memorial contributions may be made to Manchester Church of the Brethren, 1306 N. Beckley St., N. Manchester, IN 46962 or Tippecanoe Audubon Society, 721 Wayne St., North Manchester, IN 46962.