Dave Provorse, former associate professor of psychology, and his wife, Marcia, were killed in a car crash Dec. 20, 2024. Washburn University honored their legacy with a memorial Jan. 30, 2025.
“You know you have found your one true love in life when you can ride a tandem bicycle together,” said Joe Hendrixson, retired executive director of Kansas Ecumenical Ministries. “They really did do everything together.”
The couple was married for 44 years and were high school sweethearts.
“Dave first spotted Marcia in the stands at a track meet when they were in high school and asked his friend ‘Who’s that?’ Well, we all know where that led,” said Laura Stephenson, former Washburn faculty. “Their love story is both an enduring and endearing one.”
The couple had dedication to their work as Marcia Provorse had a long career of 30 years as an office manager and Dave Provorse stayed at Washburn 34 years in the psychology department.
While teaching full-time, Dave Provorse taught some classes for free because he loved to teach and had a passion for helping students.
“Dave literally taught a lot more than he had to for over a decade for free simply because of the joy and meaning he found in teaching,” said Cindy Turk, professor and chair of psychology.
He was heavily intertwined with the master’s program and played songs at banquets the department previously hosted for undergraduate and graduate students.
“The graduate students that I have interacted with always spoke very highly of him. He was the main feature at our banquets,” said Michael McGuire, professor of psychology.
One thing that everyone knew about him was his drink of choice.
“If he was drinking anything, it was Mountain Dew. He was a huge Mountain Dew fan,” McGuire said.
While the Washburn community had more time and experiences with Dave Provorse, Marcia Provorse continues to be honored by those who knew her.
“Even though I didn’t see her often, Marcia always seemed to know what was going on with me in my world,” Stephenson said. “She was personable, discerning, so engaging.”
The couple had their funeral in their home state of Nebraska, which is a little out of the way for those here at Washburn. The college decided to have a local memorial to remember them after multiple students, alumni and faculty asked if Washburn was going to do a ceremony.
“They were both the kind of people who always reached out to help and always tried to make things better,” Stephenson said.
Many people who were impacted by Dave and Marcia Provorse showed up to honor them, including several former students and faculty. Jerry Farley, former president of Washburn, came to pay tribute to the Provorse family with the Washburn and Topeka community.
Throughout the event, there was a recurring phrase of WWPD, “What would Provorse do?”
“Dave always had a life outside of Washburn. He ran marathons. He biked. He did long road trips on his motorcycle. He played guitar. He often went to his cabin in his home state of Nebraska,” Turk said. “I think in this way he modeled for students how to live a life as a professional in an occupation that has the potential to cause burnout.”
While there were a lot of tears, there were also lots of hugs and laughter as stories were told.
“Over the years I’ve refined the course based on my own ideas and feedback from students, with that said, whenever I refine my course to make it even more similar to Dave’s course, the better my student evaluations became,” Turk said.
It was well-known among the audience that Dave Provorse liked to create parodies of songs transforming them into a psychology song. Turk mentioned how he created at least one every year since she had worked with him, so she knows there are at least 20 songs.
“Him performing at those banquets, like that’s one of the ways I’ll always remember him because he was just always so funny and so on point. And you could just see how much the students loved it when he did those performances,” Turk said.
In honor of him, Rebecca Livgren, Washburn alumna and licensed masters level psychologist, played guitar and recited one of the famous Provorse psychology parodies titled “Grad School Lament.” In addition, she played a parody she wrote with Aubrey Dauber dedicated to him to the melody of “How to Save a Life” by The Fray.
“My goal one day is to walk into session the Provorse way. Mountain Dew in hand, calm and collected, fully aware of my plan. 15 minutes late to every meeting in life, but in a crisis, always on time. Thanks for teaching us how to help save lives,” sang Livgren.
Toward the end of the memorial, audience members each held up a small tea-light candle in remembrance of the couple as Hendrixson said a prayer.
“Thank you for the lives we once knew as Dave and Marcia. May the lights they shared be always among us and be always among the lights that we share,” Hendrixson said.
Donations can be made to Washburn University’s Master’s Degree Psychology Scholarship, as requested by the family in lieu of sending flowers.
Dave and Marcia Provorse are deeply missed by many and their legacy will live on in the people who had the privilege to know them.
Edited by Stuti Khadka and Jeremy Ford