David John Carney

David John Carney, born in Brooklyn, NY on August 22, 1942, was the first son and the fourth child of Frank and Edith Carney, who had emigrated from Scotland. Their second son, John was born six years later.

Although the family had barely sufficient means, the family was rich in culture, music, literature, art, and creativity. Edith Carney had been influenced by the teachings of Maria Montessori which impacted the daily life of the children and the home atmosphere.

From an early age, David showed great promise in music studying with Miss Blass, a neighborhood teacher and then at about age 13, playing the pipe organ for services at St. Teresa Church under the instruction of Maria Trombetta. 

He graduated from Bishop Loughlin High School in 1959. He attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and graduated with a B.S. in Music in 1963. After graduation, David accepted a teaching assignment at Oklahoma State College in Chickashee. This influenced him to complete his master’s degree in music theory in 1965 at University of Southern California under the direction of Ingolf Dahl, a protégé of Igor Stravinsky. 

He next taught at Oberlin Conservatory and from there, he moved to Boston and taught graduate studies for many years at Boston University where he also earned his doctorate. In Boston, he collaborated on several projects with his friend, the composer, Daniel Pinkham. David was Assistant Conductor of the Handel-Hayden Orchestra, the first and oldest orchestra in the U.S. With his design of a computer program to explicate the works of J.S. Bach he was led to complete another master’s degree in computer sciences and later earning a second Ph.D. in computer sciences.

He relocated in 1986, after accepting a position as Research Staff Member with the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, D.C., although he maintained his roots in Boston. While in Washington, he taught part-time at Catholic University. He shared residence in Washington and Boston with his long-time friend and partner and friend of the Carney Family, Eugene Green.

 Along with his encyclopedic knowledge of music, David was a composer, and some of his compositions around that time include A Sonata for Trumpet and Orchestra; A Christmas Cantata, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a chorale based on the writings of James Agee.

After the untimely death of Eugene Green, David accepted a position in the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute in Pittsburgh, which focused on cybersecurity, and AI engineering working with government agencies and private industry. After retirement from SEI, David settled in Santa Fe, NM enjoying evenings of salon with his friend and ally and flutist, Shelby Boggio with whom he had been friends with Shelby and his wife for 53 years.

After about eight years, David moved to Palm Springs and then most recently, back to Santa Fe into senior housing as aging issues became difficult. Shelby kindly gave David’s grand piano and life-time treasure, a new home. David’s friend and artist, Newton Bartley, maintained their friendship and gave assistance over these years.

David loved puzzles and puzzle-making, doing algorhythms just for fun in the evening. He published, with his friend, Brent McGee, Quadrachrostics, a book of maddening puzzles and The Pages of History, a collection of documents that have, in some critical way, shaped our world. He enjoyed and deeply appreciated his many friends around the world with whom he shared cultural and enriching exchanges.

On July 26, 2025, David died quietly in his sleep and will be remembered always for his brilliance of mind, generosity and devotion to his family, earnestness in the performance of his gifts to the world.

He requested that there be no funeral. His family will gather on Zoom and his cremains will be dispersed according to his wishes. He is preceded indeath by his sister Margaret Steele, her husband Jack Steele, their daughter

Jamie Steele of Olympia; his brother John F. Carney of Olympia; his brother-in-law Donald Saxby. He is survived by his sister, Ellen Saxby of Minnetonka, MN; Eido Frances Carney of Olympia, WA; nine nieces and one nephew of California, Washington, Switzerland, and United Kingdom; six great nieces and nephews of Washington, New York, North Carolina, United Kingdom, and Belgium.