Donald Alexander Morgan Mackay

Donald Alexander Morgan Mackay of Pleasantville, New York | 1926 - 2018 | Obituary Perkins-Parker Funeral Home

Donald Mackay of Pleasantville, N.Y., and Waitsfield, Vt., passed away at home in Waitsfield on November 24, 2018, surrounded by family who had gathered for Thanksgiving. Donald was healthy and active, almost until his last day.

Donald was born on February 8th, 1926 in Edmonton, England, to Mary (Maclennan) and Alexander Morgan Mackay, who had just moved from Scotland to London to join the Metropolitan Police. He was the eldest of three brothers; Alastair (1927-2013) and Ian (1931-1982) predeceased him. Donald attended Owen’s School, and vividly recalled the grim first day of World War II in 1939, when the entire school was evacuated from London to Bedford. Near the tail end of the war, Donald enrolled as a cadet in the RAF, but was washed out of pilot training on the discovery of his color blindness. He went on to Lincoln College of Oxford University, later joined by Alastair. Donald was a keen oarsman, taking Seat #3 in Oxford’s Eight to row up the Thames in the 1947 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. To Oxford’s dismay, their boat nearly foundered in the “dismal” conditions, so Cambridge finished with a 10-length lead.

After graduating from Oxford in 1948 with a B.A. in Chemistry, Donald came to the U.S. to study Organic Chemistry at Yale University. While working towards his Ph.D. (1954), he met fellow student Lottie Bohm. In winter, the weekend might start with square dancing on Friday evening, followed by a long drive north to Mad River Glen ‘s parking lot. The couple would sleep the rest of the night in their car, ski Saturday and Sunday, then return to New Haven in time for Monday classes.

Lottie and Donald were married on June 30, 1952. In 1957 they moved to Pleasantville, N.Y., where they raised their four children, Kathryn, Alastair, Ann, and Janet. They bought a house in Waitsfield, Vt., in 1964, which became the site of wonderfully chaotic Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings of family and close friends, in the tradition of Highland hospitality.

Donald was an inventor on over three dozen patents, mostly concerning chewing gum flavor and the prevention of tooth decay . At Life Savers, Inc., he rose to Vice President of Research & Development. His children enjoyed the surprise of being among the first to taste experimental flavors, including coffee-flavored cola and wild cherry life savers.. Later, he was Vice President of Gillette Research, then president of biotech Applied Microbiology, and consulted for the National Institute of Dental Research. He was a prolific writer, penning essays ranging from childhood reminiscences to the hardiness of different heathers when transplanted from Scotland to Vermont. He served as president of both the Northeast and the North American Heather Societies, and was the long-time editor of his beloved Heather News.

Donald was predeceased by his eldest daughter Kathryn in 1979 and by his wife of 49 years, Lottie Elizabeth (Bohm) Mackay, in 2001. At 92, he outlived most of his generation. Donald leaves son Alastair Mackay and his wife Carol Long of Towson, Md.; daughter Ann Mackay of Waterbury, Vt.; daughter Janet Mackay Wilson and her husband Haile Wilson of Essex Junction, Vt.; nine grandchildren (Fraser, Finlay, Clare, Thomas, Innes, Katherine, Helen, Henry, Elizabeth); sisters-in-law Maria Jacobson and Pat Mackay; nieces, nephews, and cousins on three continents; and his longtime companion Elinor Cohen.

A memorial service will be held at the Pleasantville, N.Y. Presbyterian Church, 400 Bedford Road, at 1:30 P.M. on Sunday, December 16th. Interment of ashes at the East Warren, Vt. cemetery will follow in the spring. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Kathryn Mackay Scholarship Fund at St. Lawrence University, the Mad River Valley Ambulance Service (Waitsfield, Vt.), or the Northeast Heather Society. Online condolences may be viewed at the Perkins-Parker Funeral Home.