SCARBOROUGH,ME- Donald R. Melville (November 18, 1926 - April 22, 2017) died peacefully with his beloved wife
and daughters at his side at Piper Shores in Scarborough, Maine. His 90 years were full of
adventure, travel, fun and accomplishment. Don was born in Manchester, England, and lived
through the schoolboy adventures of wartime England. After graduating from Altrincham
Grammar School, he joined the Royal Air Force where he served for two years as a Japanese
interpreter, facilitating the first elections in Japan after WWII. He graduated from Queens
College, Cambridge, England, in 1951 and subsequently joined the Dunlop Rubber Company,
which posted him to the Belgian Congo. At Dunlop, in London, he met the beautiful Mary
Sutton, who he wooed with poetry and country walks until she relented and married him in 1955.
The following year he received his MBA from Harvard Business School. From Cambridge,
Massachusetts, Don and Mary moved to New York City, where he worked for Continental Can
Company. In 1967, Don, who had recently become a US citizen, moved with his young family to
Worcester, Massachusetts, to join the Norton Company. He was with Norton for 21 years, the
last eight as Chairman and CEO. He retired in 1988 to fully immerse himself in the things he
most enjoyed - traveling and the arts. Don served on the boards of and supported many
organizations including the Worcester Art Museum, New England Council for the Arts, Isabella
Stuart Gardner Museum, Mass Cultural Council, University of Massachusetts Medical Center
Foundation, Radcliffe College, and the Fallon Foundation. Don, often accompanied by Mary,
travelled the globe for work and pleasure. His other passions were soccer (especially Manchester
United), tennis, books, theatre, singing English pub songs and his meditation practice. He is
survived by his wife, daughters Wendy (Wayne) and Jennifer (Alex), grandchildren Katherine
(Jacob), Olivia, Caleb and Grace. A family celebration will be held this summer.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service, Buxton. Online condolence messages can be submitted at www.mainefuneral.com. Memorial donations can be made to The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, 149 Lockwood Road, Barre,
MA 01005 (https://www.bcbsdharma.org/donate/) or The Piper Shores Employee Holiday Fund,
15 Piper Road, Scarborough ME 04074.