Deceased August 19, 2021
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In Memory
Doug passed away at home in Chatham, Mass., on Aug. 19, 2021, gazing out over Stage Harbor. He leaves behind his loving wife of 63 years, Nancy (a blind date from Smith); three children, Timothy, Benjamin and Susanna; and a gaggle of grandchildren—Brittany, Katie, Emily, Samantha, Holden, Isabelle, Lila and Posey—plus his great-granddaughter, Isla. An avid birder, naturalist, woodworker and globetrotter, Doug was also a comedian and prolific storyteller. Coming from Andover to Amherst, he was a football lineman, AD and English major. With his wide smile, a booming voice and a twinkle in his eyes, he delivered one-liners that often had his family and friends doubled over with laughter. He loved watching and playing sports. He ran or biked almost every day of his life before his Parkinson’s diagnosis.
Doug loved all beings furry or feathered. The family dogs were always curled up at his feet during the all-important cocktail hour. He journeyed to Churchill, Manitoba, to meet and study polar bears. But his real passion was for birds. Doug traveled the world bird-watching with Nancy by his side—to South America, Africa, Antarctica and Nebraska for the great migration of sandhill cranes.
He served on the board of the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy of Rhode Island and was also board chair of The Gordon School in East Providence, R.I., which his children (and many grandchildren) attended. Much of his career was spent in book manufacturing at Federated Lithographers and Alpine Press and then catalogue publishing with Museum Collections. More recently, Nancy and Doug moved to their summer home in Chatham full time, and while Doug wasn’t boating, birding, woodworking or running anymore, he was breathing the salt air, sitting on the deck and turning his face up to the sun.
—Peter Levison ’56