Donald Bion Horton - age: 88
(April 14, 1930 to April 23, 2018
)
Resident of
Saco, Maine
Visitation Information:
In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Saco Bay Trails which maintains Horton Woods and many others in the area: PO Box 720, Saco, Maine 04072 and please personally enjoy the trails as the warm weather approaches. The Memorial Service will be May 26th at 2pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Saco, 60 School Street.
Dennett, Craig & Pate Funeral Home and Cremation 365 Main St, Saco are entrusted with his arrangements.
Obituary:
Donald Bion Horton
Saco - Donald B. Horton died unexpectedly on April 23, 2018, as a result of a fall. He had recently celebrated his 88th birthday, on April 14, with family and his good friends.
He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1930 as was his father, H. Roy Horton, who died young in 1935. His mother, who was born in Scotland, moved back to Scotland with him and his siblings for 3 years, until the advent of World War II, when the family moved back to Providence. Don was raised by his mother, Aileen Horton, in Providence and his older brother Frank, who was six years older, was a father figure to him. He had a sister, Sheila Kennedy, of Lancaster, Ohio, and brother, Frank Horton, M.D., of Saco, Maine, and step brother Dick Lemon of Pound Ridge, New York, all of whom predeceased him.
Don attended Moses Brown preparatory school in Providence, went on to his undergraduate degree at Union College in Schenectady, New York, 1953, and earned his Masters and Ph. D. in marine biology/oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.
His first position upon graduation in 1960 was to establish and become the director of the marine research institute for the University of North Carolina, in Aurora, North Carolina, for five years. He later moved his family to Portland, Maine, where he was the director of TRIGOM (The Research Institute of the Gulf of Maine, a consortium of universities, including the University of Southern Maine). He also taught graduate level classes at USM.
In the early 70’s he co-founded Kristia Associates, with his wife, Eva Horton, which was the only importer of Jotul wood stoves from Norway, holding the franchise for the entire United States. He went from that business to found and operate Horton’s Smoked Seafoods with his wife Jean for 18 years, which was a very high quality smoked seafood business in Waterboro, Maine. He supplied companies such as American Airlines, British Air, Lufthansa, Delta, Marriott Hotels, Disney Hotels, Rockresorts, Whole Foods, Fairway Market.
In 1953, he met and married Eva Brit Dysthe, of Oslo, Norway, and the couple had three children, Kristin Horton now of Portland, Maine, Frederick Hamilton Horton now of Cambridge Massachusetts, and Thomas Whist Horton now of Northampton, Massachusetts. The couple eventually divorced and Don later married the love of his life, Jean Ashton Horton and they were married for 35 years living in Saco until his untimely death.
One of Don’s passions was to benefit his beloved Saco community. He created the idea of the popular 100 acre Horton Woods hiking paths for the city. He was dedicated to liberal politics, supporting progressive candidates at every level. He was a dedicated member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Saco. He also had a life long love, along with his brother Frank, for fly fishing in Labrador, Canada, and in Maine, testing his hand-tied flies. He was a wonderful cook, very athletic, a beautiful swimmer and loved farming and gardening. His dry wit and great sense of humor was passed to his children and grandchildren. He and Jean traveled frequently to the Caribbean, Anguilla in particular where they relaxed with his best friend and step-brother, Dick, and Dick’s wife, Molly. He was a gifted water colorist and truly enjoyed the process. With his naturally artistic eye and scientific scrutiny, he created many scenes leaving us a beautiful window into his love of the natural world. He had a wide circle of friends and often gathered with them at his home on Buxton Road in Saco or at their homes and area restaurants to celebrate fellowship with good food and drink.
His greatest love was for his family, whom he saw often, and the love was returned in full. He is survived by his wife Jean, his children Kris and husband John McVeigh, Fred and wife Katherine, Tom and wife Sarah, and grandchildren: Kris’s children Jessica Turcotte, Abraham Turcotte, Kyle Turcotte; Fred’s children Edward and Eleanor Horton; and Tom’s children Emma, Georgia, and Charles Horton; and great grandson, Mackerel Horton Hofmann, Jessica’s son. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and a good friend.
In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Saco Bay Trails which maintains Horton Woods and many others in the area: PO Box 720, Saco, Maine 04072 and please personally enjoy the trails as the warm weather approaches. The Memorial Service will be May 26th at 2pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Saco, 60 School Street.
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