David Arnold Moffett

David Arnold Moffett passed away on May 9, 2023 in Bradenton, Florida.  He was 84 years old.

He was born in St Johnsbury, VT to Pauline and Ralph Moffett on April 4, 1939.  David was a graduate of the St Johnsbury Academy and Columbia Bible College.  

Called to ministry while quite young he served in Detroit, MI and Trenton, NJ before becoming a full time missionary in rural Peru.  It was there he met an English missionary named Joyce Lifford to whom he would be married for more than 50 years.

In those early years David and Joyce would often travel from village to village in a dugout canoe preaching and teaching.  David would draw a crowd each evening playing his accordion.

In later years, David and Joyce served in more urban centers like Lima, Peru and Barquisimeto, Venezuela where David taught and equipped young ministry leaders.  In retirement they volunteered for a couple of years with the London City Mission in the very places Joyce had grown up.

David had a lifelong love of reading. It was seldom that he did not have a book in his hands. And if he found a book he really enjoyed he would read it over and over again. His love of reading has been passed on to his sons and grandchildren.  He loved a joke whether it was good or not and once he found a good joke there was no limit to the number of times it could be repeated.

In their stateside years they lived in Florida, first in St. Petersburg and then in Bradenton.  David continued to serve, playing the piano regularly at BayVue Nursing and Rehabilitation where he was a resident.

David was blessed by three great communities – Northside Baptist Church (St. Petersburg), the Bradenton Missionary Village, and BayVue Nursing and Rehab.

David was preceded in death by his wife Joyce and his brother Donald.  He is survived by his three children – Tim and his wife Susan, Andrew and his wife Christine, and Mark and his wife Joy.  He is survived by six grandchildren – Adam, Ashley, Noah, Landon, Sofia, and Kayla. 

Graveside service at Skyway Memorial Gardens in Palmetto, FL

Wednesday, May 24

10:00 am

Tim Moffett officiating