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David George Sedziol transitioned peacefully from hospice care in Newark Ohio to his heavenly home on February 1, 2025, at the age of 84. His pastoral journey took him to Cheshire, Belpre, Martins Ferry, Marion and Johnstown Ohio. He served as hospital chaplain at Riverside, Mt. Carmel East and West, Doctors North and West hospitals in Columbus Ohio and later as hospice chaplain at Grady Hospital in Delaware OH, before retiring in 2007. From 2012-2024 he was blessed to serve the American Baptist Churches of Ohio as pastor to a group of pastors in the Mt. Vernon Ohio area as an Associate Regional Minister.
Born on May 25, 1940, in Elmira NY, to the Rev. Samuel A. and Elizabeth F. (Decker) Sedziol, Dave was a beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, and uncle, who was proud of his Polish ancestry. His family moved to Ohio in 1943 where he attended Portsmouth Elementary, Ironton High School (always an Ironton Tiger fan and a “river rat”), and Defiance High School where he graduated in 1958. His studies were continued at Defiance College and Eastern Baptist College in Philadelphia, PA, where he earned a BA in Psychology. He pursued theological studies at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville KY, earning his MDiv in 1968 and being ordained as an American Baptist minister in March of that year.
Dave pastored in communities across the USA including Pierre SD, Omaha NE and many stops as previously mentioned in Ohio. His clinical pastoral education took him to Tuscaloosa AL for a summer and Cherokee IA for a year. He was the first Director of the Family Treatment Program at River Park Alcohol Treatment Center in Pierre SD.
Dave’s heart for service and learning also led him to participate in a mission trip to northern Thailand in 2008. His favorite place to live was in South Dakota where he felt closest to the land and was blessed to be able to work with several Native American communities, providing help through the alcohol treatment center as well as serving on a Clergy Task Force after the 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation, advocating for justice and peace.
His hobbies over the years included stamp collecting, linoleum block printing, soap carving, singing, making mashed potato doughnuts and spaghetti sauce, traveling, watching Dances with Wolves (filmed in SD, partially on the Triple U Ranch where Dave and his family visited frequently).
He will be deeply missed by his wife of 60 years, Sharron F. (Forney) Sedziol, and their children: Jonathan R. (Heather Fowler) Sedziol; Joel A. (Diane Wilson) Sedziol; and Jason W. (Charla Prendergast) Sedziol. His memory will live on through his grandchildren of whom he was very proud: Abigail M. (Anthony) Bartlett, Alexis D. (Matt Burkhart) Sedziol, Samuel E. (Emma Cooper) Sedziol. Carley M. Sedziol, Tyler D. Sedziol, and Sydney A. Sedziol, along with twelve nieces and nephews, twenty-three great-nieces and nephews, and nineteen great-great nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, in-laws William D. and Phyllis A. (Warsing) Forney, brother and sister-in-law Roland S. and Pollyanna (Rogers) Sedziol, brother-in-law Timothy D. Forney, and niece Ellen E. (Sedziol) Carney.
A man of great faith, Dave will be remembered for sharing his faith through his unique $2 bill ministry where he gifted the rare $2 bills to remind people how special God had made them, something they could not lose. He was a self-proclaimed chaplain at a local restaurant and two bars where he was always promptly served his iced coffee.
Please keep the Sedziol family in your prayers.
