David Llewellyn “Dr. Dave” Lehman, Ph.D., most recently of Hubertus, WI, passed away surrounded by family on December 14, 2025, at the age of 86.  Loving husband of Judy Lehman for 52 years. Proud father of Dan (Toni) Lehman (NC), Katherine “Teeka” (Norman Ferrer) James (CA), Kim (the late John) Atwill (WA), Jennifer (Bill Gibson) James (WI), Sarah (Tony) Jamesbarry (OR), and Maggie (Reed) Hilliard (WI).  Grandfather “Grandu” of Shelby, Sarah, Abby, Samantha, Jack, Marco, Zeya, Henry, Finn, Lorenzo, Tegan, and Joy.  Great Grandu of Colson.  Brother of Dan (Karen Uemoto) Lehman (HI).  Further survived by nephews Stephen (Lehman) and Rob (O’Donohue), niece Kath (Munn), sister-in-law Margaret (Holzbog), and extended loving family.  Dave is preceded in death by his parents, John Winfield and Ethel Mae (Williams) Lehman.

Dave Lehman was a lifelong educator and champion of environmental sustainability, human rights, equality, and democracy. Upon graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University with a degree in world religions and minors in botany and zoology, he passed up an opportunity to play professional baseball, instead opting to pursue a master’s degree in education at The University of Virginia. After completing his doctoral studies in science education at The University of Texas at Austin, Dave directed the UNESCO Pilot Project for Biology Teaching in Ghana (1967-68). Dave later would say that his year in Africa changed his life profoundly, as it was there that he came to fully understand, in his words, “real compassion for others, never having experienced some of the disease and illness and poverty that was all too common, while at the same time experiencing real ingenuity, joy, acceptance, love and caring from people different from myself.”

Upon his return from Ghana, Dave organized a small democratic community school in Texas and then moved to Columbus, OH, where he worked as an educational consultant.  In 1974, he was recruited by the Ithaca City School District in Ithaca, NY, to direct a new democratically run, student-centered junior high school. Under his direction and leadership, the school expanded to include a high school and then a sixth grade, eventually transforming into a single public school known as the Alternative Community School (ACS), serving students from grades 6–12 in the Ithaca City School District. Over his three decades as its principal, the school became a national model for alternative and democratically run schools and was renamed the Lehman Alternative Community School in honor of Dr. Dave and his wife and long-time co-worker Judy. A passionate and ardent believer in education for all, he demonstrated that schools function optimally when students, faculty, and staff are invested and involved in all facets of the educational process — from curriculum and discipline to governance and outcomes. After his retirement, Dave worked as an educational consultant with several schools in the Milwaukee and Madison areas. Dave dedicated his professional career and personal life to leading the way in democratic education. 

In addition to his passion for education and community service, Dave Lehman was a man of many talents and interests. From music to sports to animals (large and small) to carpentry, Dave was always game to dive into a new project.

• He was an enthusiastic guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His Gibson guitar never too far from reach, he would, to his children’s and students’ delight, create impromptu songs from words shouted out by the kids and lead campfire sing-alongs at the annual ACS community camping trip.  

• He lived and worked on a farm cooperative in Saint Paris, OH, where he helped grow and harvest soybeans for local consumption and edited and published the 1970s education journal The New Schools’ Exchange. 

• He had a deep and abiding love for animals, providing a home for horses, goats, rabbits, homing pigeons, cats, and, of course, dogs.  

• Along with his wife, Judy, and his children, he built a barn and refurbished an 1850s farmhouse outside of Ithaca, NY, which was heated by a wood-burning furnace and (to the horror of his teenaged children) featured a composting toilet.  

• He was an amateur mechanic, keeping the family cars running, trunks held down with bailing twine, engines temporarily knocked to life by smacking a screwdriver’s handle against the car’s starter motor. 

• He was a voracious reader and read on a wide variety of topics, from education to science to history to religion and philosophy. He always had a tall stack of books ready to go on the table next to his favorite chair.  

• He believed in humanity’s resilience and our mutual obligation to support our communities and enact justice for others.  
• Finally, he was a proud grandfather and great grandfather. Ever the teacher, he would guide his grandchildren through the dissection of amazing insects they had trapped and show them the wonders of pond life when viewed through his microscope. He loved to read with his grandchildren, doing the voices of all the characters and bringing the stories to life. 

Dave Lehman is the author of numerous articles on education and three books: A Principal's Notebook: Lessons for Today from a Pioneering Public School (2018), Africa Then and Now: Lessons for Educators from the UNESCO Biology Project for African Secondary Schools (2022), and Native Americans, Then and Now: What We Can Learn from the Original Inhabitants of the U.S. (2024).

A private burial will be held at Forest Home Cemetery.  The family plans to hold a celebration of life in the new year.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to Lehman Alternative Community School (111 Chestnut Street, Ithaca, New York, 14850); and/or soundSTART Children’s Hearing + Speech Clinic, a speech and hearing clinic supporting deaf children and families founded by his daughter Kim and granddaughters Shelby and Sarah (https://soundstartpdx.org/support).