David G. Wyman, Jr.

David George Wyman, Jr. - Poet, English Professor, Father, Brother

David George Wyman, Jr., 62, of Templeton, MA passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, August 12. He was a devoted father and will be deeply missed.

He leaves his child, Caitlyn Emily Wyman, of Lansing, NY; a brother, Donald Wyman, and his wife Lori Gardner Wyman of Leominster; a sister, Debra Wyman Ingraham, and her husband Carl Ingraham of Nashua, NH; many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles, and his best friend Lori Lamothe. He is predeceased by his parents, grandparents, and several aunts and uncles.

David was born in Leominster on January 14, 1960, to Joan (Carol) Murphy Wyman and David George “Lefty” Wyman, Sr. After graduating from Leominster High School, he earned an Associate’s degree from Mount Wachusett Community College, where he acted in numerous theater productions. He studied abroad for a semester in London via Roger Williams University and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English from Fitchburg State University. He later earned his Master of English from the University of New Hampshire, where he studied under acclaimed poet Charles Simic.

In addition to his devotion to his child, David dedicated his life to the written word. He served as an English professor at Mount Wachusett Community College for 18 years; for many years, he was the English Department Chairperson. He also published two full-length poetry collections, Proletariat Sunrise (Kelsay Books, 2016) and Violet Ideologies (Kelsay Books, 2020). His third collection, Human Capital Stock, will be published posthumously. Over the years his poems appeared in dozens of publications, including BlazeVox, Clockwise Cat, Dissident Voice, Dual Coast Magazine, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Squawk Back, The Voices Project and Zombielogic. He read his work throughout New England and would pass his books out for free, as he was an ardent Marxist who didn’t believe poems should be commodified. While he was pleased, he found an audience later in life, he wrote for decades without seeking publication.

David was a true eclectic who was passionate about many things. He played guitar and belonged to a neighborhood band in high school. He later performed as a guitar player with The Dharma Bums and had recently taught himself to play the ukulele. He loved his family, ideas, books, music, plays, political theory, outer space, Shakespeare, The Beatles, Noam Chomsky, Star Trek, Doctor Who, The Red Sox, The New England Patriots, Bernie Sanders, Emily Dickinson, Tiger Lilies, Dunkin Donuts coffee, chocolate chip cookies, Devil Dogs, Earl Grey tea, and his mother’s apple pie.

Services will be held at Richardson Funeral Home, 106 West Street, Leominster, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 20. A burial at Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made electronically to Medicare for All (passmedicareforall.org).

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