Arthur K. McDonald ’64 died on April 18, 2016, in Rockville, Maryland.

(The following was published in The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, April 26, 2016):

Arthur Knight McDonald, 74
DARNESTOWN, Md. – Arthur Knight McDonald, practical joker and lifelong athlete, died unexpectedly on April 18, 2016, in Rockville, Md. Born in Portland in 1942, he was the son of Vera Dinsmore and Arthur McDonald.

Art attended South Portland High School, excelling on the tennis and basketball courts, before graduating in 1960. One of his favorite accomplishments was leading the SPHS tennis team to the State Championships. After high school, he continued his academic and athletic career at Bowdoin College where he earned a bachelor of science in mathematics in 1964. After graduating from Bowdoin, he received a master’s degree in statistics from Boston University.

While in Boston, he met Susan Carlson of Weston, Mass. Art and Sue were married on March 2, 1968, at the Mary Martha Chapel at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Mass. Shortly thereafter, they relocated to Maryland where Art pursued a PhD at George Washington University.

Art joined the United States Public Health Commission as a commissioned officer. He worked for the federal government for 37 years, spending 25 of those years as a division director at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. He was responsible for planning, implementing and managing a variety of national data systems to capture information on trauma-related deaths and injuries.

Art was an avid sports fan and enjoyed following and discussing his favorite teams. He never turned down the opportunity to watch or play sports, especially basketball or tennis. His favorite pastimes included ham radio, long walks along the C&O canal and Marginal Way with Susan, reading, doing crossword puzzles, vacationing at Moody Beach in Maine, but most of all, playing with his grandchildren.

Art is survived by Susan, as well as his daughters, Lynne Wexler and husband Benjamin of Superior, Colo., and Julie Realejo and husband Ricardo of Barrington, R.I. He also leaves behind his 101-year-old mother, Vera Dinsmore; and five adoring grandchildren: Samantha Wexler, Anna Wexler, Ryan Realejo, Caroline Realejo and Olivia Realejo.