A Faithful Walk

Every Sunday at dusk, a car pulls into the Edman Chapel parking lot. A figure emerges into the hush of Wheaton College and begins to walk a well-worn loop through campus. As he passes each building, he prays for Wheaton leaders, professors, students, and staff—breathing the love of God into each space. He offers petitions on behalf of future students and seeks the Lord’s guidance on issues besetting the College.

This man is Dr. David Gieser ’71, and he’s done this prayer walk for 30 years and counting. If it’s bitter cold, he dons his warmest coat. If the ground is covered in ice, he walks slowly. No matter what, he’s there with the Lord, praying for Wheaton.

“In part, I’m following the students’ lead,” he said. “In recent years, they have hosted all-night prayer vigils and spontaneous prayer meetings with one another. Together, we’re asking for the ever-increasing work of the Spirit on campus.”

Gieser’s prayers are fueled by a lifetime of participating in Wheaton’s community. The youngest of four children, he grew up with a front-row seat to the College. He watched his older siblings attend and graduate, often tagging along with them during social gatherings and events. He watched Fischer Hall go up just down the street from his childhood home and Edman Chapel’s construction at the west end of campus. He watched his alumni parents maintain their own service to the school and surrounding suburbs, especially through his father’s service on the Board of Trustees and the Wheaton Eye Clinic, which his father founded.

Yet Gieser has not lived a life of mere attention. He is a doer of the Word and not a hearer only, faithfully watching for the Lord’s calling on his life. Gieser attended Wheaton with a pre-medicine major; completed medical school, residency, and a fellowship in ophthalmology; and helped provide leadership for the clinic. Ever faithful to his alma mater, he served four years on the Alumni Association Board of Directors including a term as its president, followed by 36 years on the Board of Trustees. During his nine years as chair of the board, he served on the Trustee Selection Committee for two Wheaton presidents (Dr. Duane Litfin and Dr. Philip Ryken ’88), presided over Ryken’s inauguration, and informed campaigns for two major construction projects on campus (Meyer Science Center and the Armerding Center for Music and the Arts).

“David’s deep love for Christ and for Wheaton College fueled his gifted leadership,” said Jim Goetz ’79, a current trustee and former Board chair who served with Gieser. “His countless hours spent in prayer have served as the foundation for God’s leading across generations and across the world. We have all been richly blessed by David’s passionate support of our mission and his personal care for us as individuals. We follow in his footsteps as he lives for Christ and his kingdom.”

As a member of the Board of Trustees from 1988-–2024, Gieser was among those held ultimately responsible for stewarding the College’s financial resources. This included hiring new administrators (including the president) and faculty, approving campaign fundraising efforts, signing off on new buildings, approving new college-wide initiatives, and a wide assortment of other duties. The trustees also hold the College to its mission and values as laid out in the Statement of Faith and Educational Purpose, Community Covenant, and Institutional Commitments.

“Throughout my years of service at Wheaton, I witnessed David’s thoughtful, strategic, compassionate, and generous influence on Wheaton presidents and vice presidents, and among fellow trustees and senior administrators,” said Marilee Melvin ’72, who served 35 years in a plethora of key roles for the College, including as vice president for Alumni Relations and later as executive assistant to the President. “David and his wife, Mary Elam Gieser ’71, have publicly and privately encouraged several generations of Wheaton alumni on campus, at HoneyRock, and in their home, and given all of us an example of excellence in serving Christ’s kingdom.”

Gieser’s time on the Board of Trustees was motivated by a core goal: to care for people. Amid lengthy meetings spent discussing issues at the College, flurries of emails, and a heavy mantle of fiscal and missional responsibility, Gieser sought never to lose sight of his ultimate calling to tend the wellbeing of Wheaton’s community through listening and doing.

“David Gieser has the distinction of having served three successive terms as board chair—a leadership role he carried out with perseverance and grace, with a strong commitment to hearing from all voices,” said Ryken.

Gieser demonstrates this listening attitude through one-on-one breakfasts with students and staff at Egglectic, a popular restaurant in the heart of downtown Wheaton. He reads every email newsletter and page of Wheaton magazine, scanning for people he can pen handwritten letters to, whether in hearty congratulation or shared sorrow. He attends most concerts and plays performed by Wheaton students, as well as many athletic contests.

“When I came to work for Wheaton College nearly 12 years ago, Dr. Gieser was the first person to invite me to breakfast,” said Dr. Kirk Farney M.A. ’98, vice president for Advancement, Vocation, and Alumni Engagement. “As we visited, his heartfelt commitment to the mission of the College and his dedication to assuring that we carried it out with excellence was thoroughly evident. His leadership has been remarkably effective, his counsel consistently wise, and his commitment to covering the College in prayer unwavering. I am in awe of this godly man.”

Far from being a man who sits back at a long table in a meeting room and tells other people to do the work, Gieser has never been afraid to get his hands dirty and labor alongside his brothers and sisters in Christ. For nine years, Gieser and his wife spent spring breaks in Canton, Mississippi, with their children and Dr. Jerry Root, Professor of Evangelism Emeritus, who was then a pastor at College Church. There, they completed week-long service projects with In His Steps, a multifaceted ministry serving marginalized communities and founded by alumnus Jasper Bacon ’82.

“I was a ‘secret trustee’ during those weeks,” Gieser said. “The college students didn’t realize that the guy next to them scraping layers of old paint off the building was a trustee of the College.”

Gieser and his wife also have a vibrant history with
HoneyRock, Wheaton’s Center for Leadership ​
Development, going back to his childhood as a camper and spending many summers on staff.  Once, the summer after his freshman year at Wheaton, Gieser was tending to a ski-boat when he spotted movement on a small fishing boat about 200 feet out from the shore. The outboard engine was on fire. Gieser paints a tense scene of a man half in the water and hanging over the side and a woman huddled at the front of the boat. Gieser yelled to his brother working nearby, who dashed into a nearby cabin and came charging back out with an old bucket.

Together, the brothers dragged a canoe into the water and clambered aboard, booking it for the fishing boat. After pouring water over the engine cover, Gieser knew he had to lift the cover to check for fire inside, which might cause a rush of oxygen to stoke the flames. Gieser would be first in the fire’s path. Yet he never thought twice about what was required of him. He flipped the hood, put out the rest of the flames, and towed the charred fishing boat with its shaken occupants to a nearby pier. As the four found their footing on solid ground again, Gieser gaped with sudden realization at the man who had been hanging over the side. It was Dr. Arthur Holmes ’50, M.A. ’52, beloved professor of philosophy from Wheaton College. In his reserved English accent, Holmes turned to Gieser, said, “Well, I thank you very much,” and walked away.

“We could have died,” Gieser said, not mincing words. “Dr. Holmes and I saw each other on several occasions afterward, but he never brought it up again.”

This harrowing experience did not put Gieser off HoneyRock. Since 1999, he and his wife have helped maintain five cabins available for faculty use or visiting renters, which included initial renovations in each of all major appliances, furniture, and interior design. Where the cabins had sat sparse before, under Mary’s intentional eye for design, they began to flourish. Each spring, following the harsh Midwestern winters, Gieser and his wife drove up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin to clean, paint, stock, and reset the cabins for a new season of HoneyRock’s hospitality. Once more, they saw a need and helped meet it.

“David is a tremendous champion for the mission of HoneyRock,” said Matt Erickson ’95, Executive Director of HoneyRock. “His passion for hospitality along with his decades of active involvement and partnership are a terrific benefit to those we serve.”

Everything in Gieser’s life comes around to the Scripture he cites as his guiding principle: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24, ESV). His generosity stems from this conviction, that all he has in time and resources is ultimately the Lord’s. He’s simply here to serve as a steward and vessel of those provisions.

“Participating in the kingdom work at Wheaton College is a gift from God and has been a very enriching experience,” Gieser said. “During this entire time, I’ve sensed the wind of the Holy Spirit filling my sails.”