M. Wray Witten, 66, of Athens, Georgia died Dec. 3, 2014 following a battle with cancer. He was a noted environmentalist and attorney in Colorado, Ethiopia, Scotland, and most recently in Athens.

Witten was born in Scarsdale, New York, on Oct. 20, 1948. As a boy, Wray spent his summers in their summer cottage on McKown Point in Boothbay Harbor. His oldest sibling, John Witten, who lives near Pottstown, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Jane, (sister of Penny Matthews) still own the family’s summer cottage. John and Jane visit Boothbay Harbor in the offseason from time to time.

Wray attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he met his wife, Karen, who attended nearby Mount Holyoke College, at an inter-campus social during freshman year. They were married in 1971.

After graduation and a wedding, the Wittens held odd jobs in Vail, Colorado, and in Switzerland, before returning to Karen’s home state of Colorado. Wray soon found work as a clerk in a natural resources and water rights law firm, to pay his way through the University of Colorado Law School, and in the process eventually became a partner.

In the early 1990s, the Wittens moved to the Tigray region of Ethiopia and stayed for 12 years. Wray helped found a nonprofit working to establish a rural water supply in northern Ethiopia, a region torn apart by a 20-year civil war. His efforts received support from UNICEF.

The Wittens did not have children, but, as is custom in Ethiopia, they have one honorary Ethiopian daughter, whose U.S. education they financially supported, and 10 honorary Ethiopian grandchildren.

Wray also helped establish Ethiopia’s second school of law at Mekelle University. He served as the law school’s first dean. It is now named in his honor. Wray’s wife, a medical doctor specializing in malaria research, then accepted a position at Aberdeen University in Scotland, where the Wittens lived for three years.

Wray also taught the management of organizations at several American universities.

The Wittens moved to Athens, Georgia, in 2008. They quickly became fixtures within political and social circles in Georgia by walking door to door registering voters for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and by attending the historically African American Hill First Baptist Church.

The Wittens also spearheaded a large community garden project, turning a kudzu-filled ravine behind Hills First Baptist Church into a productive vegetable garden that fed many nearby residents. Wray often downplayed his work in the garden, letting his wife and their homeless friend and fellow gardener, Tommy Chester, hold the public spotlight.

Wray worked with graduates of Athens High and Industrial collaborating with the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation to create a historical marker noting the site of Georgia’s first African American high school.

In honor of the “volunteerism and community spirit” shown by the Wittens, the Athens Land Trust established the Wray and Karen Witten Award, given each year to a dedicated volunteer who exemplifies those traits.

Karen Witten will continue to call Athens home at least part of the year. She will still make the couple’s yearly trips to Colorado and Ethiopia.

As per Wray’s request, a public memorial will not be held in Athens. The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa have scheduled a public memorial in his honor in June 2015 in northern Ethiopia.