Mathematician, sailor, brother, teacher, woodworker, uncle, historian, trustee, husband, Deacon, bagpiper, father, planner, and writer, Donald Cameron Duncan died Feb. 24, 2025 in the Zimmerli Pavilion at St Andrews Village in Boothbay Harbor. 

Dying four months into his 97th year, Donald may not have had “nine lives.” But, in the many places his boundless curiosity led him, Donald had by our count at least five. 

Born in Bronxville, New York on Halloween in 1928, Donald joined his siblings Roger, Nancy, and Ellen as the youngest child of Robert Fuller Duncan and Dorothy Fenn Duncan. 

In his formative years from birth until he received a high school diploma, Donald attended public and private schools in three states. These included the Fenn School in Concord Massachusetts which was founded by his Uncle Roger Fenn. 

But academic achievements were not the standout feature of his early years. Instead, Donald’s mischievous antics at the Fenn School left his Aunt Eleanor, wife of the Head of School, exasperated and perplexed.  

A 1940 Fenn report card noted: “Donald hasn't started to climb up again to the level from which he fell last month. He has even gone lower in Arithmetic . . . He can still get himself into hot water.” 

The real lasting influence in the first 17 years of Donald’s life was the Maine coast. Every summer he had mixed success following his much older brother Roger around New Harbor’s waterfront. 

Donald’s distinctly unsuccessful first solo sail is an often-told family story. Salt air, tides, and the people of Maine’s small coastal towns became a major thread throughout his long life. 

The second major chapter in his life began in 1949 when, at age 20, Donald joined Milton Academy’s faculty. 

Over a 47-year career there, Donald enjoyed a variety of roles including dorm master, coach, department chair, advisor, and chapel speaker. But the classroom was the center of his work. 

Donald’s motto for teaching math was “constant encouragement” which led him to weave poetry, humor, and inspirational quotes into class. He loved math; he cared for his students (especially those who struggled with math); and the real joy for Donald was when a student understood. 

In a thank you note one student wrote, “It looked as though only a miracle would make me like math. October rolled around and calculus was the only class I would look forward to . . . Your class put math in a creative perspective.” Another student wrote, “he wants us to have fun.” 

Fascinated with the whimsical side of mathematics, he developed the concept of “Happy Integers.” The publication, Mathematics Teacher, ran articles on this in 1972 and 2006.  

Frustrated with available middle school textbooks, Donald co-wrote his own. He also wrote the Teachers Guide to George Thomas’s “Intro to Calculus,” a text widely used across the nation.  

Donald received numerous teaching awards including the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching for the State of Massachusetts. 

While teaching mathematics Donald learned that it was more about what he asked his students than what he told them. 

Realizing this led him to always be asking questions of his teachers, his ministers, his colleagues, his neighbors, his friends, as well as his nieces and nephews. 

The third life defining chapter of Donald’s life began when, on academic leave from Milton, he attended graduate school to earn his second degree (Harvard AB 1949 and MEd 1954). 

The most valuable life lesson Donald gleaned while in grad school was that when you throw a snowball at Joyce Schneider, she throws one back. And her aim was better than his. 

Joyce and Donald married in 1955. In the first eight years of marriage, they worked together at a summer camp mentoring campers and camp counselors, running canoe trips, and climbing mountains. 

In the Camp Winnemont years, Donald sought Joyce's advice on everything from lesson plans to chapel talks. And he learned to listen when she had an observation about anything mechanical.  

Together they raised two daughters, Nancy Duncan and Fenn Schneider Duncan, on the campus of Milton Academy with summers spent on Southport Island. 

Joyce and Donald found joy in taking their daughters to school sporting events, making ice cream using the last of winter’s snow and rock salt, hiking in the Blue Hills, visiting Boston’s Museum of Science, and sailing out of Newagen Harbor. 

They were active church leaders in the First Congregational Church of Milton. Nancy and Fenn quickly learned their parents would be the last people to leave a Church event - - and only after all the dishes were washed. 

For 64 years until Joyce’s death in 2019, Donald benefitted from her quiet competence, thoughtful wisdom, and calm presence. 

The same year Donald started teaching (1949), his mother purchased a seasonal cottage on the north edge of the village of Newagen on Southport Island. 

This purchase would define a fourth major chapter in Donald’s life. In 1967, Donald and Joyce built a house next door. 

Each summer he sailed out of Newagen, explored and played with extended family, attended church, played bagpipes, and learned about Southport.  

In 1996 Donald and Joyce retired to what had been their summer cottage. Once on Southport year-round, they jumped into community life. 

They both put a good deal of time into the Hendricks Hill Museum. Joyce volunteered for decades with the Friends of the Museum. Donald joined the Museum Trustees in 1999. 

Twenty-five years later, at the time of his death, Donald was still a Museum Trustee. In 2024 the museum’s summer lecture series was named “the Donald & Joyce Duncan Lecture Series”  

Active in church life, he was proud to be part of the process which resulted in the Congregational Church in Boothbay voting to formally include a statement welcoming and affirming LGBTQ people.  

Donald served on the Southport Planning Board from 1999 through 2022. He read poems and stories to people at St. Andrews Village. And he discussed politics, history, and sports with the Tuesday and Thursday coffee group at the Southport Library. 

Up until his last day on Southport he was learning from books, magazines, and YouTube videos. And he was asking questions to enliven any conversation at home or at the library. 

While probably not clear to a 13-year-old Donald, the birth of his twin nephews in 1942 opened a fifth, and the longest running chapter of his life - - 83 years of being Uncle Donald.  

Summers with extended family in Newagen were central to him becoming the beloved uncle. This was a role he greatly treasured with three generations of nieces and nephews (36 total). 

He engaged them with plumbing projects and dump trips. He built toy bagpipes for a great nephew so that they could march on the porch together to Scotland the Brave and Amazing Grace. 

He hid nickels for the youngest ones to find and had puzzles for the older ones. Donald would question his younger nephews and nieces about the highlights of second grade. 

He took them sailing. And Donald was always interested in his older nieces’ and nephews’ perspective on current events as well as how their professional interests and skills were evolving.  

In recent years, Donald relished being the oracle of Duncan family lore - - passing on cherished family stories of his parents, grandparents and siblings to younger generations.  

Donald Duncan was predeceased by his parents Robert and Dorothy, his siblings Roger, Nancy, and Ellen, his wife Joyce, his daughter Fenn, and two of his nephews. 

He is survived by his daughter Nancy and her husband Larry, his daughter-in-law Laurie Bilby, his sister-in-law Bunny Schneider, thirty-four nieces and nephews, plus many dear friends.  

On Saturday, May 17 at 2 p.m., a Memorial Service for Donald will be held at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, 125 Townsend Avenue. 

In lieu of flowers, the family (and we are sure Donald) would greatly appreciate donations made to the Southport Memorial Library, the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, or the Hendricks Hill Museum. 

Arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home and Crematory, 975 Wiscasset Road, Boothbay.