In Memory of Dave Crough

It is with great sadness that we bring you the news that Dave Crough passed away on 1st February 2020, after a four and a half month battle with cancer. Dave, along with his wife Deb, have been editors of The Journey since 2013.

Dave Crough on the John Muir Trail, Sierra Nevada mountains, August 2019

Dave and Deb have been serving together since joining Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1984. They have lived in Papua New Guinea, France, Cameroon and Canada, where they raised their (now adult) children. In more recent years they moved to California, USA.

Dave worked as a photojournalist and in other media related roles, and had a great passion for photography. In 2007 he was part of the team that produced and published the Wycliffe Canada book, Eye to Eye, Heart to Heart.

More recently Dave has been serving as Special Projects Coordinator for the Wycliffe Global Alliance leadership team. He assisted in planning and facilitating many Alliance consultations. Together he and Deb worked with Kirk Franklin in editing Kirk’s PhD thesis into the book Towards Global Missional Leadership. In June last year (2019), Dave was appointed as Director for the 2020 Global Gathering, and excitedly began envisioning what the first global Alliance gathering on the African continent would look like.

Dave's hiking shoes after his 211 mile walk along the John Muir Trail

In August 2019, taking time off from directing the planning for the Global Gathering, Dave planned and prepared for one of his favorite activities, hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. After his trip he wrote,

“These are my ‘new’ hiking shoes after 11 days backpacking the John Muir Trail in California. While the shoes basically came apart, my feet, knees etc. were fine. Great trip. The John Muir Trail (about 211 miles in length) is one of the most remote and challenging trails in the U.S. and has been touted as being one of the most beautiful thru-hikes in the world. With a total of over 47,000 feet (14,000m) in elevation gain, and 38,000 feet in elevation loss, the trail crosses over 10 steep mountain passes, 6 of them being over 11,000 feet.”

Just two weeks later, Dave was diagnosed with liposarcoma, an aggressive cancer that, despite intensive chemotherapy, quickly spread through his body.

Dave Crough Jan. 18, 2020

Dave went to be with the Lord on 1st February 2020. His final days were spent surrounded by family.

Dave is survived by his wife, Deb, son Jordan (wife Lisa) and grandson Eli, daughter Meredith (husband Greg), sister Kathy and brother Peter (Diane).