CARLISLE, Mass. — David John Driscoll passed away peacefully on April 21, at his home in Carlisle, Mass., with his family by his side.

He was born Dec. 8, 1945, in Lewiston, to John and Ruth Driscoll. He spent his early years in Auburn and Dixfield and Cumberland, R.I. He graduated from Bates College with a major in French, spending his junior year in Dijon, France. On May 11, 1968, three weeks after graduation, he married Jo-Ann (French) with whom he would have celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary in May.

David made the most of his four years in the Army following graduation. During this time, he and Jo-Ann lived in Washington, D.C., Texas, Korea (in a one-room house) and finally Fukuoka, Japan, where they enjoyed riding their motorcycle on the back roads of Kyushu. After the Army, he attended UMass Amherst receiving a master’s degree in teaching and then both he and Jo-Ann worked with GTE Sylvania Training Operations, where they set up and ran training programs and lived in Algeria and Iran. They were evacuated from Iran during the revolution in 1979.

For many years, David worked as an IT trainer for Teradyne, Cullinet Software, Lotus and Powersoft Corporation as well as being an independent consultant. During that time, he traveled to Kuwait, Guam, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong and throughout the U.S. delivering training classes.

David was also an active volunteer — first at Household Good Recycling of Massachusetts and later for the Red Cross. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he felt compelled to help out and volunteered with Hands On Disaster Response (now All Hands Volunteers). He drove to Biloxi, Miss., to spend three weeks and ended up spending three months. This experience piqued a need to do more and over the past seven years, he and Jo-Ann have volunteered with All Hands in Indonesia, the Philippines, Peru, Bangladesh, Haiti and Japan as well as in Missouri and New York, digging mud out of houses, removing concrete debris, building schools and doing whatever was necessary to help out after a disaster.

After the 2010 Haitian earthquake, David used his knowledge of French and his logistics abilities to work with the University of Miami’s Project Medishare and help run the large tent hospital that acted as a trauma center for earthquake victims. He also worked with JP/HRO and All Hands with their projects in Haiti and with International Medial Relief, where he helped provide security to the group as well as other logistics support. His wonderful sense of humor always helped no matter how difficult the situation.

David loved the outdoors — kayaking the Royal River in Maine, lying in the hammock at Sabbathday Lake, hiking, backpacking and cross-country skiing in the White Mountains. He coordinated numerous family hikes and kayak trips with the nieces and nephews and tried to instill a love of nature in the next generation. He loved to challenge them with a ski down the backside of Wildcat Mountain. If you’re up hiking on the West Side Trail, crawling through caves on the Six Husbands, staying at Crag Camp, or looking at the view from Hall’s Ledge, you might run into him. He’ll point out the sights and might even tell you a hiking story or two intermixed with his awesome dry wit.

David believed in living his life to the fullest. His heart was always open to anyone in need. He rescued stray dogs from St. Martin and rescued stray people from Mt. Washington. His door was always open to travelers from other countries and he reveled in showing them around New England. He maintained contact with people all over the world, always willing to give support or just say hi. He touched many lives and left us too soon.

David leaves his loving wife and right-hand man, Jo-Ann; his mother, Ruth of Auburn; his sister, Elaine of Cumberland, R.I.; his sister, Susan of Portsmouth, N.H.; his sister, Cathy of Clifton, Va., and New Gloucester; his brother, Tom of Winthrop; his sister, Nancy of Turner; his sister, Patricia of Mount Vernon; and many nieces and nephews, who meant so much to him; he also leaves behind his beloved dog, Lady, who will miss their walks through the cranberry bog and cross country skiing at Bear Notch.

Some people endeavor to live a happy life, some to raise a loving family, others want to leave a legacy and still others want to change the world for the better. David accomplished all of these things in his own quiet way.

Please send notes and sign the guest book at www.deefuneralhome.com.