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2009
HONORARY ALUMNI
Biography – David J. Fey
 David
J. Fey - Then & Now
Dave, as Bill Cosby
likes to say, “started out as a child,” in a small, rural community
near East Liverpool, Ohio. After graduating from high school Dave
attended THE Ohio State University graduating with a B.S. in Biology
in 1966. He began his teaching career with the Columbus Public
Schools, having been hired to teach biology at Walnut Ridge High
School. When the Russians launched “Sputnik,” the first manmade
object in space, the push was on to improve science education in
America’s schools. As a result, the National Science Foundation
awarded Dave an “Academic Year Fellowship” to attend the University
of Virginia in Charlottesville (he was one of very few Northerners
on the campus of Mr. Jefferson’s University). Upon completion of a
Master’s, he was hired by Bexley City Schools to teach science,
including physical science as well as biology.
The next twenty-five years were an enriching experience for Dave,
having probably gained more knowledge than perhaps he was able to
impart. “Bexley is a community that puts the education of their
children above all else and it is expressed not only in their
financial support but in the way they send their children to school
– ready to learn,” he said. “I always looked forward to ‘Open House’
when I knew I would have the opportunity to meet most of my
students’ parents.”
He went on to say what a privilege it was to teach with the
brightest and most committed teachers who would often put Bexley
students before their own families. “Not to mention being a member
of the best science department around,” he added. He fondly
remembered when he was awarded a National Endowment for the
Humanities Sci-Mat Fellowship to study with Dr. Alan Corn, exploring
ways to integrate science and the humanities.
In 1998 Dave retired after thirty years in education. Too many late
mornings and afternoon naps, not to mention gaining twenty pounds,
was incentive enough for Dave’s wife to tell him it was time to look
for a new career. Dave says that he is living proof that it isn’t
what you know, but who you know, when looking for a job. A phone
call from the wife of an old friend, a short interview and Dave
became the first fulltime director of the Fairfield County
Historical Parks. Even though history, and especially “living
history,” was an avocation (remember when he showed up as U. S.
Grant and spoke to Dean Chappelle’s U.S. History classes), it is now
a passion. He can be found nearly seven days a week, ten to twelve
hours a day, in one or more of the county’s eighteen historical
parks.
Dave now resides in Baltimore, Ohio with his wife Cheryl. Aside from
having a B.S. in chemistry, Cheryl is a self-taught decorative wall
artist and founder of Blue Shoe Arts, a program to provide artists
with disabilities an opportunity to earn an income while expressing
their creative talents. He has two sons: Ryan who is married and
living in California with his wife Amy. They are expecting their
first child, Zoe. Ryan owns “Omelet,” a
marketing/advertising/branding business in Los Angeles; and Andy who
is married to wife Devin. They have one child, Addison, and live in
Lancaster, Ohio. Andy is a firefighter/medic in the Mifflin Township
(Gahanna) Fire Department and is also Assistant Chief at the
Pleasant Township Fire Department.
Dave has been honored by receiving the Tarhe Lions’ Citizen of the
Year, The Floyd Wolfe Community Service Award, the Fairfield County
Soil and Water Conservation District’s Conservation Education Award
and this very special award: The Bexley High School Alumni
Association Honorary Alumni Award. “I am deeply humbled that I have
been given this honor and that my name will be placed on such a
distinguished list of former award recipients,” Dave said. “I fondly
remember the hours spent with my students and hope that they are
well.”
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