Donald F. Mortland ’50 died February 27, 2014, in Searsport. He was born on January 20, 1927, in Searsport, and graduated as valedictorian of Searsport High School.

He served to staff sergeant in the Army during World War II, then enrolled at Bowdoin, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He graduated magna cum laude, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and in 1949 was awarded the Bertram Louis Smith Prize in English Literature. He went on to earn a master’s degree at Yale University in 1953 and then embarked on a teaching career at high schools and preparatory schools throughout Maine and New Hampshire. In 1965, he joined the small first faculty of Unity College (then called the Unity Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences). In 1967, he was appointed dean of faculty and, in 1970, the college newspaper named him “Faculty Man of the Year.” For the next thirty years, he taught English, chaired committees, produced plays, and supported the college in any way he could. In 1980, Unity awarded him an honorary degree, Doctor of New England Literature. He was awarded the Rosinski Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 1992, the year he retired and was named dean emeritus. He was the author of a book of short stories, The Merry Widow Fox-Trot. He was an active member of the Unity Union Church. He is survived by daughters Pamela Mortland and Deborah Woodbury, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. He was the husband of Jacqueline Currier, whom he married on August 23, 1956.