David Gareth Foulds passed from our lives on June 5, 2024 at Winchester hospital.
Foulds was born on October 5, 1938 and lived his formative years in Missouri before moving to San Antonio, Texas to attend Trinity University.
Between his junior and senior years, he volunteered as part of Operation Crossroads Africa to help build a school in a small coastal village in the West African country of Benin, returning home with an immense love for the continent.
Gareth was commissioned in 1961 as a second lieutenant in the Army and returned to Texas briefly in 1962 to marry his college sweetheart, Gale Moore (Foulds).
Shortly thereafter, Gareth was assigned on an unaccompanied tour to the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea.
Gale and Gareth were unfortunately separated again during his 1965-66 Vietnam combat tour.
The following year, he was accepted into the Army’s Foreign Area Specialty Program, which would take him back to his beloved Africa but not before earning his M.A. in African Studies at Ohio University.
The Foulds family of four began their overseas adventures, with Gareth and Gale assigned to work at U.S. Embassies in multiple African countries – he as the military attaché, she in various positions with the State Department – spending most of the following 18 years in Zaire, Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, and Chad.
Gareth retired as a colonel in the US Army in 1991 after 30 years of active-duty service and having received numerous US and foreign military medals and decorations.
In 1992, Foulds was inducted into the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Attaché Hall of Fame.
He then accepted an opportunity to join the CIA and was immensely proud to be awarded the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.
Gale and Gareth purchased a barn in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, which they used as a weekend place.
After three years in Ethiopia and Gale’s final assignment in Washington, DC, they moved from Capitol Hill and relocated to their renovated barn in Morgan County.
They had met so many wonderful people in the area that, upon Gale’s retirement in 2000, it was an easy decision to make West Virginia their permanent home.
Over the next two-plus decades, Gareth and Gale became an indelible part of Berkeley Springs, joining several environmental initiatives including the Sleepy Creek Watershed Association.
They were proud to have one of the first residences in Morgan County to be solar-powered.
Gareth was also a staunch advocate for the Vietnam War Memorial, and purchased several commercial buildings and refurbished them to further preserve and enrich the town.
Gareth leaves two lovely daughters Leigha Eshner (her husband Dan Eshner) and Ainsley Gottrich (her husband Daniel Gottrich) and his five grandchildren David Eshner, Elina Eshner, Kyla Eshner, Ryan Gottrich and Asher Gottrich.
Gareth and Gale donated their physical bodies to West Virginia University medical school.
There will be a Gathering of Friends and Family Saturday, July 20th, 2024 from 1:00pm-3:00pm at the Ice House at 138 Independence Street i n Berkeley Springs, West Virginia 25411.
Donations can be made to the Gale and Gareth Foulds Eco-Legacy Fund for installation of solar panels on their beloved Ice House through the Morgan Arts Council at www.macicehouse.org or 304-258-2300.