ABOUT DAVID

The son of a FBI agent and an elementary school teacher, I began life in suburban Chicago, later growing up in both Alexandria, Virginia and Buffalo. College, grad school, and early career took me throughout New York, to Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, and then to finally Ohio in 1989. Starting then at Heidelberg College as an assistant professor of American history, I am now a full professor and the chairperson of my department. While teaching at Heidelberg, and living in Marion, I also authored the book, Selling’em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food (New York University Press, 1997) and served as president of the Ohio Academy of History, as an ex officio board member of the Ohio Historical Society, and on the Social Studies Advisory Board for the Ohio State Department of Education. 

I enjoy working to help my community. Serving the boards of the Marion-area YMCA and Habitat for Humanity, I was able to assist in creating a school-based child care program, in building a new YMCA facility and in bringing housing to the working poor. While in Marion, I also worked very closely with the Marion Area Chamber of Commerce, directing the Marion Leadership Program, and for my church, co-chairing St. Mary church’s annual Festival on the Green. Related to my profession as a historian, I also volunteered as a consultant for the Marion County Historical Society & Museum and as an unpaid guide at the Warren G. Harding Presidential Home.

Twenty years ago I married my wonderful wife, Lee Ann, and moved here to her native Delaware County. Formerly Lee Ann Walton, she is both a Buckeye Valley and Ohio State grad, and now a fourth grade teacher at Olentangy’s Shale Meadows Elementary School. Together we have a combined family of four great kids; Allyssa, Tim, Brendan, and Lilly, soon to graduate from Buckeye Valley High School. We also have horses, dogs, cats turkeys, and chickens.