David Bowen Wilderman

David was born on August 29, 1946, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Florida Lorraine Bowen Wilderman and James Loyd Wilderman.

The son of a Navy man, David moved with his family to Naples, Italy, where he roamed the terraces and fields of that post-war city with his brothers, having grand adventures and getting into occasional trouble; to Norfolk, Virginia, where he spent his pocket money at the corner candy store, and finally to St. Louis, Missouri, where he first met some of the young men who became his oldest, life-long friends.

He graduated from Hazelwood High School in 1964, where he was voted most likely to succeed, and from Westminster College in Missouri in 1968, where he both won the Harmon L. Remmel prize for the best history thesis (about former St. Louis mayor Raymond Tucker) and supplemented his scholarship money by operating a small bootlegging business, bringing beer down from Columbia for his brothers at Sigma Chi.

He earned an MA in history from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He won a fellowship to go to the University of Missouri to get a PhD in history and become a professor, but instead decided to settle down in St. Louis, where he got married, had a daughter, Pier, and got started on what was to become a life-long career in housing and community development as a city planner with the City of St. Louis. It was in St. Louis that David bought and rehabbed his first (of many) historic homes.

After divorcing, David moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1980 to take a job as a technical assistance consultant for the Department of Housing and Urban Developtment (HUD). The next year, while on a work trip to North Carolina, he met Carole Burchette, who was to become his wife and partner of 40 years. While it wasn’t love at first sight, as the two spent more time together, traveling throughout the state to visit project sites, they recognized in each other an equal—a companion who shared a deep and abiding commitment to faith and family, an appetite for adventure and new experience, a willingness to take on and tackle challenges, and a sometimes silly sense of humor.

David and Carole were married in December, 1982, and settled in Annapolis, Maryland, with Carole’s son, Matt, who quickly grew to be David’s son, too. For the next 15 years, David built a life in Annapolis, working in housing development and financing (first at Case Edwards, then at Love Funding), guiding his two children toward adulthood, mentoring the midshipmen he and Carole sponsored, mastering wind-surfing, and becoming an active member of the community at Heritage Baptist Church.

In 1997, David moved back down to Jacksonville to head Love Funding’s Florida office and to be closer to his ailing parents. Although originally planned as a temporary move, Carole joined him 18 months later, and they spent the next 13 years living in (and working on) a historic home in Jacksonville’s San Marco neighborhood. While in Florida, David cared for his parents until their deaths, built a successful business as a general contractor focused on historic home renovations, became an active member of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, traveled with Carole to places called things like Flora-Bama and Okefenokee, and learned the art of making fig jam from fruit he picked from his own trees.

When the Great Recession ended the Florida housing boom, and with it, David’s business, David and Carole made the decision to return to Annapolis. David joined HUD as a program manager in the Multi-Family Housing Division, eventually becoming the director of the Technical Support Division. While at HUD, David led a team to re-vamp and streamline the multi-family underwriting process. David and Carole returned to Heritage Baptist Church, where David led the church’s million-dollar Doors Wide Open Capital Campaign and the resulting modernization and renovation of the church buildings.

In January 2022, David was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. David and Carole added regular trips to Johns Hopkins, where David was part of a pancreatic cancer treatment trial, to their regular routine. They also got to work on their bucket list—traveling around the country to visit friends and family..

David knew his death was coming, and he faced it with the open heart, inquisitive mind, practical, problem-solving attitude, and enduring faith with which he met all of life’s challenges.

Although David struggled to learn to read as a child, once he did, he was an avid, life-long reader who approached books—especially history, religion, and biography—with the seriousness of a true scholar.

Although he was a man of deep moral, intellectual and spiritual seriousness, he was also someone who could win a case of fresh pineapple in a Hawai’ian twist contest, or who would hop in the car with just his wife and a map for a spur-of-the-moment adventure to an as-yet-undecided destination.

He could converse with passion and insight about everything from football to affordable housing tax credits, from Lincoln’s second inaugural to the letters of Paul.

He was a St. Louis Cardinals baseball and Navy football fan, but he didn’t hate the Cubs or Army.

He could build a plumb wall, grow a blooming garden, and make a mean apple pie.

He was a loving and beloved son, brother, husband, father, mentor, leader and friend.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Carole Burchette, his children Pier Petersen (Jasmine Vasavada) and Matt Wiemer (Denise), his grandchildren Jordan, Samantha, Lieven, and Justine, siblings James Wilderman (Kathy), Stephen Wilderman (Lorraine), Kent Wilderman, and Mary Ann Shnaekel (Wes), scores of nieces, nephews and cousins, the dozens of midshipmen he and Carole sponsored over the years, and the many friends and colleagues whose lives he touched.

Services will be announced at a later date. Click the receive updates button below to receive automatic notification when that information is posted.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to Heritage Baptist Church’s Doors Wide Open campaign or Food Pantry, https://www.heritageloves.com/onlinegiving, 1740 Forest Dr., Annapolis, MD, 21401; the Annapolis Light House Homeless Prevention Center, https://annapolislighthouse.org/get-involved/make-a-gift/, 10 Hudson St., Annapolis, MD 21401; or to an organization that reflects your own experience of David’s light in the world.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared on this website for the Wilderman family.

A service of Remembrance for David will take place during the Sunday, September 10, 2023 morning worship service at Heritage Baptist Church 1740 Forest Drive Annapolis, MD 21401 at 10:30 AM. Immediately after the worship service there will be a luncheon with a time of fellowship and remembrance in the church fellowship hall.