David Nash Porter, 76, of Berryville, VA, died Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at his home. David was born in Springfield, Illinois, son of the late Lyle Barton Porter and Helen Josephine Nash Porter. Growing up between Springfield and the family farm outside of Champaign, David was active in the Boy Scouts of America and participated in the Springfield Municipal Opera each summer. He was proud to have been able to study abroad in the Philippines through the AFS program, an experience which ignited a lifelong passion for travel. David graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in General Engineering which he applied to a career in the telecommunications industry which spanned more than 35 years and roles from Switching Engineer to Executive Vice President. He also received an MBA from Roosevelt University. David traveled extensively as an industry advisor to the US State Department as he helped bring modern telecommunications to developing nations in South America and to post-Soviet governments in Eastern Europe. Later in his career, he brought his years of experience in advocacy and regulation to focus on improving communications and broadband internet access to underserved rural communities within the United States. He married Linda Newton Porter in 1969 in Havana, IL. They moved to Summit, NJ in 1976 where David was active in PTA theater productions and sang with the church choir. David spent more than a decade in the leadership of the Northern NJ Boy Scouts of America, serving as the Scoutmaster of Troop 76 in Summit and participating in many local council leadership roles. Family hikes along a decommissioned railway line sparked an interest in the history of the Waterville, Wiscasset & Farmington railway. David spent many weekends researching the history of the line and volunteering to restore and reconstruct this historic Maine railway. Surviving with his wife are a son, Aaron Porter of Walnut Creek, CA; a daughter, Jessica Bender (Ed) of Leesburg, VA; three grandchildren, Claire, Leah, and Grace Bender; and a sister, Mary J Porter of Champaign, IL. Services will be held at Renner-Wikoff Chapel in Urbana IL on Wednesday, August 17 at 2pm. Burial will be in Yearsley Cemetery, Urbana. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in David’s honor to the WW&F Railway Museum (http://www.wwfry.org/) condolences may be sent to www.renner-wikoffchapel.com
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of David Nash Porter, please visit our floral store.