The Rev. Dr. David L. Aasen was born on May 28, 1923, outside Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on the family farm, the youngest of four children born to Oscar and Agnes Moe Aasen. Early on October 8, 2017, he died in his Magnolia apartment in Seattle, Washington, of natural causes, at the age of 94.
He graduated from high school in Eau Claire in 1940 where he gave the valedictorian speech for his class. A couple of years earlier he won a local Elk’s Club award for memorizing the entire US Constitution and reciting it in public. Dr. David earned his Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Goshen College in Indiana, his Bachelor of Divinity form Bethany Biblical Seminary in Chicago, and his doctorate in theology from Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1944 he married Frieda Kaufman, to whom he was married until her death in 2003.
Dr. David taught at the South Western Bible College in Waxahachi, Texas, from 1951-1953. He was the academic dean at the Northwest Bible College in Seattle, Washington from 1953-1957. He then served as the pastor of the Methodist Church in Pateros, Washington from 1957-1959; in Riverton, Washington from 1959-1962; in Edmonds, Washington from 1962-1971; in Boise, Idaho from 1971-1975; and at First Methodist Church in downtown Seattle from 1975-1988. He then retired, but continued to serve long interims in Tracyton, Washington from 1988-2001; and in Bryn Mawr, north of Renton, Washington, from 2001-2010. In 2013 he received the Hero of Faith award, given by Temple B’Nai Torah, Mercer Island, Washington.
Dr. David was a much admired leader in the Pacific Northwest. He was a champion of the oppressed, a civil rights advocate, and devoted churchman, regularly attending Calvary Christian Assembly in Seattle.
He is survived by many nieces and nephews including Patricia Jarnagin and Charles Hawes, as well as by Lucy Heflin, his caregiver the last few years of his life.
His funeral will be at First Methodist Church in Seattle (180 Denny Way), Saturday, October 21, 2017, at 11 am. In lieu of flowers please make donations to Operation Nightwatch: 206-323-4359.
