Through all the chapters of his life, David Arthur Sonstroem, of Storrs, was a steady, gentle force. His love for his people and places was quiet and deep, and he was loved deeply in return.

David was born in Bristol, CT, on April 11, 1936, to Arthur M. and Lillian Meyer Sonstroem. He was the eldest sibling to Jon, Norma (who passed in early infancy), and Susan. He spent most of his childhood living in a modest house on a Litchfield estate, where his father was groundskeeper and where David developed a lifelong love of gardening. He was also welcomed into the main house’s magnificent library, where his interest in language flourished.

After graduating from Litchfield High School, David became the first in his family to attend college, earning an English degree at Amherst College. He went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. at Harvard University, also in English.

While in Cambridge, David met and courted fellow graduate student Anne McKinnon of Pidcock, Georgia. They wed in 1964. After a few years, they moved to Storrs, where David began a 53-½-year-long career teaching literature and grammar to generations of students at the University of Connecticut. During his tenure, he authored the university’s heavily used Style Booklet, as well as Rossetti and the Fair Lady and many scholarly articles. For his own amusement, he also penned dozens of poems, essays, and cartoons, which he shared with a lucky few in his life. Whether writing or speaking, David always relished using the most precise word for each moment.

David and Anne settled in Storrs, welcoming the births of their children, Eric, Sara, and Jacob. In 1968, they moved into the house that David would call home for the rest of his life. It was there that he and the children mourned Anne’s passing in 1984. Later, David married his second wife, Derri Owen, and their child, Louisa, was born. Eventually he celebrated the arrivals of two grandchildren, Anneka and Teddy.

David was an avid and impressive runner, though he didn’t begin in earnest until his late 30s. Initially running was meant to boost his competitiveness as a tennis player amongst his colleagues, but it quickly eclipsed tennis. He went on to win his age division in 100 road races over the coming decades. The first 99 age division wins were earned on his own two feet; the final win was achieved in March 2026, a couple weeks shy of age 90, flanked by his two daughters. In 2006, he was the second-fastest 70-plus marathoner in the country, running a 3-hour, 28-minute marathon in Mystic the week after earning an age group win at the Hartford Marathon. This also made him the 12th-fastest in the world.

During half a century of running, David cherished the “jogging cronies” who joined him on countless miles around the UConn campus and laps around the track. The “thundering herd” trained, trotted, and exchanged witty insults. Three of them tallied their collective mileage and eventually realized that together, they’d run the entire distance to the moon and were headed back to Earth.

Though he was surrounded by loquacious, friendly people who sought out his company, David was at his heart a true introvert. He loved solving cryptic crossword puzzles; spotting songbirds at the feeder; and sitting quietly on his back deck in the late evenings, listening to the hushed night sounds: cicadas, an occasional car, and the chorus of frogs by the Fenton River down the hill. Each summer, in the garden beds out front, David planted orange marigolds, brightly colored zinnias, and red impatiens. He found great contentment in the quiet routines of his life.

At age 85, David was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which gradually but brutally stole away his ability to run, and eventually walk, speak, and even eat. For five years, he endured the indignities of his illness with the longsuffering patience of the consummate marathoner that he was. He passed away peacefully in his own bed, early in the morning of July 27, 2026, at the age of 90. Three hours after his passing, a shooting star streaked through the night sky over the house, then vanished.

David is survived by his children and grandchildren: Eric Sonstroem and wife Tory (of Stockton, CA), and their daughter, Anneka, and her husband Sam (of Portland, OR); Sara Mallory and husband Scott (of Lyme); Jacob Sonstroem (of New Britain); and Louisa Zhao and husband Andy (of Storrs), and their child, Teddy, as well as another grandchild due later this year. He is also survived by his brother, Jon Sonstroem (of Fort Collins, CO), brother-in-law, Peter Anderson (of Avon), and several McKinnon in-laws with whom he maintained close contact through the decades following Anne’s death. He was predeceased by his infant sister, Norma Sonstroem; first wife, Anne (McKinnon) Sonstroem; parents, Arthur and Lillian Sonstroem; sister, Susan Anderson; and sister-in-law, Terry Sonstroem.

David will be buried beside Anne in a private interment at the Storrs Cemetery on North Eagleville Road in Storrs. A celebration of life will be held at the UConn Alumni Center Great Hall, 2384 Alumni Drive, Storrs, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 5. After the ceremony, attendees will be invited to join the family in a lap of remembrance around the adjacent track.