David E. Harlow

David E. Harlow

MUNROE FALLS - On January 16, 2025, shortly after visiting with his two children, David E. Harlow, 93, a respected teacher and beloved husband, father and uncle, was called quite unexpectedly in the twinkling of an eye to his heavenly home.

Son of the late Buell and Lois (nee Van Raalte) Harlow, David was born in Akron on December 21, 1931, during the Great Depression.  While David was a toddler, his parents and older brother, Robert, moved to rural Stow Township.  It was there that he would meet his lifetime friends with whom he would graduate from Stow High School in 1949 (the forty-niners). These classmates continued to meet monthly for breakfast even as they grew into their 80s.

Following high school graduation, David would continue his studies at Kent State University, earning both a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Arts and a Master of Education in secondary education in 1953.

His aspirations for becoming a teacher were temporarily placed on hold as he was called to defend his country during the Korean War.  He served in the United States Army as part of the Pittsburgh Air Defense and was stationed for 2 years at an Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Nike-Ajax) Missile Battalion near Manor, Pennsylvania.

After serving in the Army, David continued in his thirty-year career of teaching.  In the late 1950s through the 1960s, he served as a shop and drafting teacher at Nordonia Junior High School, Canton McKinley High School, and Roswell Kent Junior High School in Akron. He would finish the last years of his teaching career as a coordinator for the Occupational Work Experience (OWE) program at Akron’s North High School.  After retiring from teaching, he worked for many years in the hardware department at Sears at Chapel Hill Mall.

It was during a summer school program at the University of Colorado in Boulder that he met his future wife, Mary Ellen McKinley, an elementary school teacher from suburban Chicago.  Together, they would make their home in Munroe Falls and raise their two children.  They enjoyed nearly 60 years of marriage together until her passing in 2021.  Together, they traveled the country and the world and worked together for over 25 summers at Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan.  He would later serve as Mary’s loving caregiver for many years.

David’s family and friends meant the world to him, and he was a great husband, father, and grandfather to both his grandchildren and their family’s dogs.  David knew no strangers and he treated his friends, neighbors and health care workers as part of his family, always with a smile and a kind word of encouragement.

David and Mary were members of First Christian Church of Stow and winter members of Beneva Christian Church in Sarasota, Florida.  David served as an elder and volunteer in the church and was a prayer counselor during the 1972 Billy Graham Crusade in Cleveland.

Born with a servant’s heart, David served his community and country in many ways.  In Munroe Falls, he was a councilman, a member of the historical association, and was recognized by the mayor for planning the 1976 United States Bicentennial Celebration for the village.  In the City of Stow, he was recognized as an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Stow Independence Day Commemoration Committee and for serving on the Stow WWI Doughboy Statue Restoration Project Committee.  He served as a volunteer for Summit Metro Parks and the Akron Soapbox Derby.  After hurricane Katrina, he and his wife went to New Orleans to help restore houses damaged in the flooding. He was all too happy to share his handyman skills to help others!  He also was a member of:  Stow-Munroe Falls Lions Club, the Akron Chapter of the Korean War Veterans, the Kent Civil War Society, the Kent State Alumni Association and the Harlow Family Association.  Even in an advanced age, he continued to volunteer as he was able.

Those left to cherish memories of David are his son, Scott (Joann) of Cooksville, Maryland; daughter, Julie (Brad) Prather of Kent; grandchildren: Carrie Harlow of Columbia, Maryland, Rebekah Prather of Cleveland Heights, and Timothy Prather of Columbus, as well as many nieces and nephews.

David’s family would like to thank the nursing staff of 5W at Summa for caring for him during the holidays and for the rehabilitation staff at Heather Knoll for caring for him during what turned out to be his last days.

Calling hours will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at 10:00 AM, at First Christian Church of Stow, 3493 Darrow Road, Stow, followed immediately by a memorial service at 11:00 AM, with Rev. Jonathan Rumburg officiating. Inurnment will take place at a later date at Stow Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to First Christian Church of Stow , or the Stow-Munroe Falls Lions Club , c/o Bob Platt, Club Secretary ~ P.O. Box 1681, Stow, OH 44224.