David Alfred Pryce Vaux

Vaux—David Alfred Pryce Vaux, 75, on April 30, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pa. David was born on August 4, 1947, to Peter and Jean Vaux in Bergkirchen in the British Zone of Allied-occupied Germany. David’s father was a British military officer, resulting in the family moving to Libya, Germany, and Malaysia. David’s mother served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service in wartime London.

After a year at London University, David turned to office work. He volunteered to support U.S. draft resisters seeking shelter in the United Kingdom, which was his first encounter with Americans and an experience that solidified his lifelong pacifism. In 1969, David married Priscilla Bebbington. Together they emigrated to Australia. David received a scholarship to attend Newcastle Teachers’ College. David and Priscilla volunteered with Volunteer Service Abroad. They spent a year teaching at St. Andrew’s Anglican School in Tonga, New Zealand, returning to Australia in 1975. David taught at St. Teresa’s College, Abergowrie, a Catholic boys’ boarding school from 1975–78. Their daughter, Frances Elena Vaux, was born in 1978, their son, Carleton Anand Vaux, in 1981, and in 1990, David and Priscilla adopted Deepahk Kumar Vaux at the age of four from an orphanage near Suva, Fiji.

In 1978, David and Priscilla moved to a potato farm in Tumoulin, Australia. Over the next decades, David built many additions to their small wooden house, turning it into a sprawling family home. The bare farmland was transformed into a beautiful garden. They named the property Midpath, after the Middle Way of Buddhism.

David taught at St. Barnabas Anglican School in Ravenshoe from 1979–83, and at Mount Saint Bernard College in Herberton from 1988–2001. David was head of the English department and a much beloved English and drama teacher. He had a gift of working with adolescent students who did not always fit the expected mold.

David founded EL Kumanand Press. He published two books of poetry as well as collections of short stories and novellas. His first novel, Cassowary Hillset, was published in 2015.

After long spiritual searching, on February 1, 1998, David became a Quaker at Queensland Regional Meeting, Australia Yearly Meeting.

In 2004, David returned to England where he lived for two years with his second wife, Molly Vaux, in the village of Church Broughton. David taught English and drama. His Quaker membership was transferred to Witham Meeting, Britain Yearly Meeting, on May 12, 2004. Moving to the United States in 2006, they established a rural home in a high valley of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, and his membership was transferred to Santa Fe (N.M.) Meeting in 2007. In 2014, they settled in Portland, Ore., and in 2020 moved to Philadelphia, Pa., by which time he suffered a second round of lymphoma.

David had edited the biography of Donald Groom, the first secretary of Australia Yearly Meeting, Peace Comes Walking (2002) by Tasmanian Friend Victoria Rigney. Groom was an English Friend who had carried food and medical supplies across the lines to both sides in the Spanish Civil War and later spent time in India with Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. David’s spirit fit closely with Groom’s contemplative nature and active nonviolence.

David was a member of Santa Fe Meeting at the time of his death.

He is survived by his spouse, Molly Vaux; two children, Frances Vaux Lobut (Firat Lobut) and Carleton Vaux (partner Jennifer Keil); and one brother, Robert Vaux (Catherine Vaux).