Donald Chapin Root Jr.

CENTERVILLE - Donald Chapin Root Jr., 73, died peacefully surrounded by his family on Saturday July 21, 2007 at Cape Cod Hospital after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Born in Newton Center, he graduated from Newton High School in 1952 and Bates College in 1957. He received a master's in guidance and counseling from Boston University in 1962 and a master's in psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1965.

Don worked as a Guidance Counselor and Director of Vocational Opportunities for 25 years at The Edwin O. Smith High School in Storrs, Conn.

Following his "retirement" from the Connecticut School System, he spent five years as a Guidance Counselor at The John F. Kennedy School in Berlin, Germany. He was fortunate enough to be there when "the wall" came down. He returned to the Cape to officially retire in 1994.

From 1966-1980, he spent his summers as a Park Ranger for the Cape Cod National Seashore. He patrolled the beaches and dunes of Truro and Provincetown. His love of the Lower Cape continued when he became a member of The Race Point Lighthouse committee. He was active in the restoration of the keeper's house and his special project was raising funds to install solar panels to bring electricity to the house.

He was an avid bicyclist. He toured Germany, Austria, Denmark and throughout the United States. His crown jewel was in 1998, at age 64, when he completed a solo 1100 mile bike trip from Columbia, S.C., to Cape Cod.

He attended St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Barnstable.

He is survived by his wife, Pat, of 46 years, his son Mark and his wife, Christine, of Columbia, S.C., and his son Dana and his wife, Tamela, of Storrs, Conn; two sisters, Charlotte Morse and her husband, Carlton, of Scarborough, Maine; and Carol Roth and her husband, Charlie, of Needham, Mass. He also leaves his mother-in-Law, Lillian Campbell, of Centerville, Mass

He is fondly remembered by his granddaughters, Kathryn and Emily, his grand-nephew Braden Burke, his nieces, nephews and their families, and his extended family at the Cape.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to the Renewable Energy Fund, Race Point Lighthouse, P.O. Box 570, North Truro, MA. 02652.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. at The First Baptist Church, 486 Main St., Hyannis.