David W. Long, 59, of Shiremanstown, died unexpectedly Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010, in Harrisburg (Pa.) Hospital with his family at his side. His death was the result of a previously undetected tumor in his abdomen.

He was born May 21, 1950, in Cleveland. He is the son of Harold W. and Cathryn R. (Mulligan) Long of Avon Lake, Ohio.

He was the husband of Barbara Phillips Long, bureau chief of the Shippensburg Sentinel, whom he married Aug. 28, 1971, in Richmondville, N.Y.

He graduated from Avon Lake High School in 1968, where he was a member of the marching band and active in music programs. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1972 from Cornell University and played tuba in the Big Red Marching Band.

Mr. Long was a systems programmer for Rite Aid Corp. at the Railroad Avenue offices in Camp Hill, Pa. Before that, he worked for Browning Manufacturing in Maysville, Ky., and Morse Chain, Intos and the CBORD Group in Ithaca, N.Y.

He attended Grantham Brethren in Christ Church; in Maysville he was a member of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and in Ithaca he attended St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Growing up, he and his family were part of Lakeshore United Methodist Church in Avon Lake.

Mr. Long enjoyed music, including the Metropolitan and Glimmerglass operas, and played the French horn in the Ithaca and Maysville community bands and the Limestone Brass Ensemble in Maysville. He was active in band booster groups when his children were in high school in Mason County, Ky., and Mechanicsburg, Pa.

He was a gardener, a reader, a fan of professional baseball and football and Cornell University ice hockey and lacrosse. He loved working with computers personally and professionally.

Mr. Long is survived by his wife and parents, his daughter Alison and son Owen of Trevose, Pa.; his sisters Cynthia Long of Asheville, N.C., Nancy (David) Busack of Pickerington, Ohio, and Lorry (Edward) Donner of Lake Villa, Ill.; brothers Robert (Jeanie) of Brunswick, Ohio, and Roger (Connie) Long of Worthington, Ohio. He is also survived by aunts, uncles, cousins and numerous nieces and nephews and in-laws.

Memorial services will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at Grantham Brethren in Christ Church, 421 Grantham Road, Grantham, Pa., with the Rev. Mike Holland officiating, assisted by the Rev. Connie Johnson Long.

Burial will be in Ithaca, N.Y., at the convenience of the family.

Visitation will be from 1:30-3 p.m. Saturday at the church.

Memorial gifts may be made to the American Cancer Society, to the Cornell University Big Red Marching Band by designating a gift in honor of David W. Long for fund 113601 and sending it to Cornell University, c/o Stephen Caraher, Box 223623, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-2623, or to the First Christian Church sanctuary renovation fund, 18 E. Third St., Maysville, KY 41056.