On any given day, Abbot Emeritus David Cyr can be found in the Abbey Library at his office desk. This seems entirely appropriate, since one of his first assignments after his ordination in 1951 was Academy Librarian. The fact that he has been Abbey Librarian since 1992 and that the official name of the Abbey Library carries the name of Abbot David Cyr by no means exhausts the impact he has had on both the Academy and the Abbey in over 65 years of monastic life.
Abbot David is a native Auroran, who was a student at Marmion Military Academy before entering the seminary at St. Meinrad, Indiana. Along with Abbot Gerald, Abbot David is one of the two surviving founding members of Marmion Abbey in 1947. In his early years after ordination Abbot David was an instructor of Latin, Religion and French at the Academy, as well as serving as librarian. He was associated with the Butterfield Road Resident School Campus from its first school year in 1958-59. He would become Academic Dean in 1965 and then Headmaster of the Academy in 1969. On November 26, 1971, Abbot David was elected as the third abbot of Marmion.
During his twenty years as superior of the monastic community and President of the Academy, Abbot David oversaw much change and monastic renewal within Marmion Abbey. He also helped implement expansion programs at the Academy. The Battaglia Center was the capstone of that expansion, dedicated in 1985.
Abbot David was known for his love for travel and dedication to his garden plot at the entrance to the abbey. In the first years after his resignation as abbot in 1991, he helped to serve the Benedictine Confederation by serving as a director of Development for the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. He also enjoyed taking “pilgrimages” each fall with Academy trustees to various sites in Europe.
In recent years, Abbot David has let go of his garden plot and his travel, but continues to work out of the abbey library and attend all the abbey liturgical functions. At the age of 85, he joins Abbot Gerald in giving proof that leadership and longevity have much in common.