David Roland Zehr

David Roland Zehr of Little Rock passed away the morning of February 9th, 2022. Born in San Rafael, CA in 1937, he went on to earn degrees from Dartmouth College and Duke University before receiving his PhD from the University of South Carolina. 

He served in the US Army as a rifleman and a pathologist in Europe. He went on to teach at NC State and Mount Sinai School of Medicine before moving to Arkansas where he worked at the National Center for Toxicological Research and the University of Central Arkansas.  

He took great pride in the students he taught, keeping a close eye on how his students ranked in their Medical School classes compared to other institutions. He also really enjoyed teaching General Biology to students legitimately fearful of math and science.  He taught them how to brew beer in a dry county and to appreciate how biology impacts everyday life. 

He was probably the world’s foremost expert in Gillet razors, the absurdity and irrelevance of which he took great amusement. 

An accomplished woodworker, he built all manner of tables, chairs, cabinets and display cases, but his most prized woodworking accomplishments were the birdhouses, doll houses, wooden swords and spacecraft he built with and for his family, friends, children and grandchildren.  

David Zehr is survived by his daughter, Amy Riedl and his son, Michael Zehr, along with their spouses, Matt Riedl and Laura Zehr, and his six grandchildren: Ethan Riedl, Nicholas Riedl, Drew Riedl, Annalise Zehr, Caroline Zehr, and Victoria Zehr.  

He will be interred at the Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be sent to the Carmelite Nuns at 7201 West 32nd Street, Little Rock, AR 72204.