Month: September 2025

John Miller McDonald Jr., known to most as Sandy, died on August 25, 2025. He was 95 and lived most recently in Northampton, Mass.  Born on January 5, 1930, in Evanston, Ill. and raised in Winnetka, Ill., Sandy was the son of John Miller McDonald of Columbus, Ohio and Florence Merrill McDonald of St. Paul, Minn. He married Ann Gebhart McDonald (“Gebby”) in 1961, and they spent 64 happy years by each other’s side. He graduated in 1947 from New Trier High School in Winnetka, and from Dartmouth College in 1951. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy in 1952, serving as a gunnery officer in the Mediterranean on the destroyer USS Warrington. Later, his service continued at the Naval Academy, teaching sailing and racing from Argentina to Brazil before his honorable discharge as lieutenant in 1956. He received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 1957.

Sandy spent his entire career in sales and marketing positions in the plastic packaging business, first for Kordite in Rochester, N.Y. and Atlanta, and then for 36 years at Continental Can (later Continental Plastic Containers). Throughout his career, he was active in the larger plastics industry, with roles at the Society of Plastics Industry and as a spokesman for public affairs of the Plastic Bottle Institute. He helped to establish the plastic bottle material coding standards for recycling and capped his career at Continental as an environmental consultant.

In 1962, Sandy and Gebby settled into what became their home of 58 years in Noroton Bay in Darien, where they raised three boys. Some of the most memorable moments of his life revolved around boats and the water. Growing up, he sailed on Lake Michigan. At Dartmouth, he raced on the sailing team and helped construct an early boathouse. He raced an Ensign and then a Sonar on Long Island Sound, savored his memorable trips to sail with family and friends in the British Virgin Islands, and proudly entertained many on his retirement Grady-White powerboat.

A member of Noroton Yacht Club for over 60 years, Sandy served in various positions of leadership there and in the broader Darien and Long Island Sound community. He served on the Junior Sailing Committee at Noroton Yacht Club for six years, including as chairman. He served a six-year term as a flag officer, becoming commodore in 1980. During his tenure, the club hosted the National Junior Sailing Championship. Sandy and Gebby founded and produced the Noroton Fleet Sheet for more than 10 years. He was a 1999 recipient of the Moon Award, presented to a club member who has given extraordinary volunteer effort over time to the club.

He served as chairman of the Junior Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound, and as environmental chair of the organization. He was a member of the Connecticut Harbor Management Board, vice chair of the Connecticut Boating Council, and represented Darien on the Citizens Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island Sound Study. He also served as chairman of the Darien Advisory Commission on Coastal Waters and was Secretary of the High-Speed Ferry Safety Task Force of Long Island Sound.

Sandy took great joy in celebrating others in their achievements, always ready with a smile and a hearty handshake of greeting or congratulation. All who knew him felt his warmth and curiosity, as he inquired about their latest pursuits and shared what he had learned from his own avid reading. To be at a table with him as he raised a glass in “Skol!” was to feel kinship as family. He was an active and devoted father, and later grandfather. Sandy was a happy Scotsman, proud of his Scottish heritage and a long-time member of Clan Donald USA.

Sandy is survived by his wife Gebby; their three sons Jock, Doug and Geoff; three daughters-in-law Allison Bleyler McDonald, Deanna Cook McDonald and Sarah Brubacher McDonald; and five grandchildren Ella, Maisie, Callum, Spencer and Rory McDonald.

A celebration of Sandy’s life will be held at Noroton Presbyterian Church and Noroton Yacht Club on December 27, 2025.

Frank Badart Kemp of Darien passed away peacefully at home on August 30, 2025, due to heart failure.

Born on September 30, 1943, to Blanche and Lemuel Kemp, Frank was raised at their home in Catonsville Md. He graduated from McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md. in 1961.

As an American studies major at Yale’s Davenport College, he was active in campus programs, especially the Yale Political Union, taking great pleasure in hosting guest speakers of national reputation to a seminar chat, dinner, and then presentations to the larger student body.

He enlisted in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, and upon graduation in 1965 was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. His initial assignment was at Camp Casey, Tongduchon, Korea, 40 miles north of Seoul and near the Demilitarized Military Zone. His first assignment was an infantry platoon leader, prior to being promoted to first lieutenant and the battalion staff. Prior to his discharge from the Army, he taught marksmanship to basic trainees at Fort Dix.

At Columbia University he earned an M.B.A. in 1969, majoring in finance and information management and was hired into a start-up training program for liberal arts graduates by Arthur Young and Company. There, he learned the consultant’s discipline and thrived in projects devoted to computer systems and development.

While at Columbia he met and courted Judith Ann Budding who had graduated from Connecticut College while he was in the Army. Their marriage in the fall of 1969 marked the beginning of 44 years of bliss, starting in Murray Hill, then Brooklyn Heights, and a final move to Darien in 1987. Once settled in at Seagate Road in Darien, they began their commuting careers, together in the morning, but unable to coordinate the timings of their trips home.

With a love for sailing, clearly inherited from his dad, Frank ventured with Judy all over Long Island Sound, enjoying weeks-long cruises to places where they could anchor out and enjoy the sunsets. In later years, the sailing platform was an 18′ Marshall Catboat, a sturdy craft found mostly in the middle of the pack: neither the first, nor the last. After the years of sailing, he recently “went to the dark side” with a sturdy 19′ center console boat, taking it to Hartford, the Erie Canal and around Manhattan several times, for the pure joy of it.

Following a career at Arthur Young, Frank served as chief information officer (CIO)for the Municipal Bond Investors Assurance Corporation and the law firm of Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdun, completing his career as CIO at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants just after Y2K computer issues were resolved.

On their retirements in 2000, Frank and Judy launched into a most vigorous era of public service projects within Darien. Frank was recognized as a volunteer of the year in 2006, served on the boards of Person-to-Person and the Darien Arts Center and on the vestry of Saint Luke’s Parish. He served as president of the Darien Arts Center for several years, and as commander of the Darien Sail & Power Squadron. He relished the challenges of organizing the Squadron’s flare up session, as well as the boat camp, involving over 100 camper students and many volunteers’ boats.

Upon the loss of Judy in 2013, Frank returned to active participation in yet more civic activity, including teaching boating courses for the Darien Sail & Power Squadron. It has been estimated that he and his colleagues taught and certified over 3,000 students for their Connecticut boating licenses — many of whom remained good friends.

He was one of the longer-serving members of Darien’s Representative Town Meeting and was chair of the committee that has been revising the town’s charter and ordinances.

He is survived by his partner Margaret MacMillen and a great cloud of honorary nieces and nephews, and their kids.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Frank’s memory to Person-to-Person, 1864 Post Road, Darien CT 06820 or  East Coast Contemporary Ballet, 15 Yew Street, Norwalk, CT 06850.

Douglas Campbell III, age 72, passed away on September 2, 2025, at his home in Stamford with his wife and kids at his side after a courageous four-year battle with ALS. He went peacefully thanks to an abundance of love and support from family and friends, and because he was able to watch the University of Michigan football team win its first game of the season a few days prior. 

The son of the late Douglas Campbell Jr. and Elizabeth MacColl Campbell, Doug was born on March 6, 1953, in Detroit, and grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. He graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 1971 and received a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire in 1975. After a stint at the U.S. State Department, he received an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in 1980.

In 1972, Doug met Gwynne (MacColl) Campbell in Portland, Oreg., and in 1978 they got engaged in Italy. They married on Cape Cod a year later and relocated to Darien, where together they opened the first Sylvan Learning Center on the East Coast, providing tutoring and test prep for 36 years.

In 1995, Doug founded The Success Coach to help CEOs and their teams reach business goals. Simultaneously, he taught M.B.A. classes for almost two decades at Sacred Heart University and Fairfield University and ran monthly “High Talent Creatives” networking meetings until 2014. In 2019, he helped launch and co-hosted the Stamford Ferguson Library’s Entrepreneur in Residence Program.

He served on many local boards, including the Darien Chamber of Commerce, Darien Men’s Association, Darien Land Trust and Connecticut’s Angel Investment Forum. In recognition of his service to The Hotchkiss Fund, Doug received the school’s Armitage Award in 2023. He wrote books titled Where To Go From Here: Reinventing Your Business and Your Career and The 16-28 Solution: Unleash the Passions of Your Youth. He co-authored Major Issues of the Law of the Sea with his professor at University of New Hampshire after graduating from there.

Doug was most proud of the family that his wife and he raised. He is survived by son Colin and wife Tara Craft and their two daughters, Alma and Chloe, and his daughter Caroline and husband Robert Dickie and their two sons, Brooks and Miller. Doug cherished his grandchildren and loved playing tickle monster and games with them.

Doug loved coaching Colin and Caroline on their youth ice hockey, baseball and softball teams. A lifelong golfer, fisher, biker, ice skater and swimmer, Doug loved being active and supporting his teams. He spent many summers hiking in Michigan’s upper peninsula and continued to enjoy the outdoors at the family house in Matunuck, R.I.

Doug was a member of Noroton Presbyterian Church where he served on the missions board and co-founded a multi-denominational men’s bible study group, now in its 18th year. Doug also helped establish micro lending initiatives in Ecuador and El Salvador. He enjoyed his many trips abroad, visiting all continents except Antarctica.

In early 2022, Doug was diagnosed with ALS and vowed to fight the terminal illness with positivity, science, humor and diligence, inspiring his family, friends and business community until the very end.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to ALS United Connecticut (4 Oxford Road, Suite E4, Milford, CT 06460, www.alsunitedct.org) or the Darien Land Trust (5 Brook St., Darien, CT 06820, https://darienlandtrust.org).