Donald R. Spalding ’57

Donald R. Spalding ’57 passed away from natural causes on December 12, 2024, at his home in Whitfield, New Hampshire. Donald came to Dartmouth from Phillips Exeter Academy. At Dartmouth he majored in geology and music, worked at radio station WDBS, and belonged to the Geological Society. After Dartmouth he earned a master’s in geology from Johns Hopkins University in 1960. Part of his reason for attending Dartmouth was a love of northern New England. His original career choice in geology made this difficult. His first job was with the State of Connecticut Highway Department as chief geologist for five years. He then taught geology at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, for three years. He returned to his hometown of Whitfield as comptroller and personnel manager of the family-owned Spalding Inn in the summer and at a family-owned resort in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the winter. Following the sale of the Spalding Inn in 1985, he joined Groveton (New Hampshire) Papers, a subsidiary of Diamond International, serving as paper chemist until the mill closed in 2007. Donald was active in his community on the regional district school board for nine years, including three as chairman and three as chief labor negotiator. His interests were music (harpsichord and choral), Civil War history, land use regulation in New Hampshire, gardening, and splitting wood for his wood stove. He is survived by sister-in-law Topsy and many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews.