Douglas W. Crate Jr - 1926-2008

He grew up in the Philadelphia area attending Friends Central School, West Chester State Teachers College (BS Education) and Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ (Masters Degree in Elementary Ed). He spent every summer of his life until 1972 at Camp Katahdin in Etna Maine, founded by his father; first as a camper, then a counselor and eventually director.

He served in the United States Army in Germany at the end of WWII

He lived in various states throughout his life including New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Maine. He loved to travel and toured the country the summer of 2006 at age 80 years old in his car with his dog Stormy. He will be fondly remembered by many for his sense of adventure. He maintained contact with close friends via email who will miss his messages of humor and wisdom.

He married Sally Church Alexander on July 24th, 1948

and had four sons.

Doug taught elementary school(mostly 4th grade) for 35 years in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Bangor, Maine where he spent the majority of his career. He was known for creative and innovative classroom teaching techniques that fired up children’s imaginations. One of the most memorable was the year he built a large cardboard airplane in his classroom. It had painted windows and working doors. Students would sit in the plane and be led on an imaginary plane trip to various sites in the world. It was a tool to teach geography and cultural understanding through imaginative play. His standing joke was: I never got out of the 4th grade and much of his humor reflected childhood innocence. Over the years he has been contacted by many of his former students who fondly remember him as one of their favorite teachers.

Doug’s interests included; “n” size trains, politics, sports and good conversation.

He will be missed by his special friend and companion over the last two years, Pauline Ingalls and her family, of South Portland.

He is survived by three sons Douglas W. Crate, III and his wife Misha of Winterport, ME; Stephen C. Crate and his wife Allison of Waterville, ME; and Jeffrey S. Crate and his wife Pam of Gardner, ME; eight grand children, three great grand children and several nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his brother William Crate and his wife Marion of Beverly, MA; and sister Millie Edelman and husband Ray of Glassboro, NJ; his sister-in-law Dorothy Philips of Spokane, Washington & her family.

He is predeceased by his wife Sally Church Alexander Crate who died in July of 2005 and son Robert Henry Crate who died in February of 2001.

A Special thanks to the Doctors, Nurses and staff at Maine Medical Center’s Gibson Pavilion and the Special Care Unit for their care of him.

As Doug directed, an anatomical donation of his remains was made to the University of New England College Osteopathic of Medicine to further the advancement of medical science and research.When the research is completed his ashes will be interred in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Etna Maine.

The family can be contacted via email at Steve Crate

In lieu of flowers donations can be made in the name of Douglas W Crate, Jr to: Friendship Cottage, P.O. Box 1107, Blue Hill, ME 04614, Tel: (207) 374-5612 Fax: (207) 374-5023 - www.friendshipcottage.org

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