Obituary: ​Donald Molander

Baltimore, Maryland – Donald Nelson Molander, 92, passed away on December 18, 2017 at Augsburg Lutheran Home and Village in Baltimore, MD. Ethelyn (Smith), his devoted wife of 67 years, survives him.

Born in Brockton, MA on July 18, 1925, Donald was the son of John and Olga (Nelson) Molander of North Easton, MA. He was a graduate of Oliver Ames High School, class of 1943. He attended Tufts College in Medford, MA, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy and a became a pilot.

On June 10, 1950, Donald and Ethelyn were married. Donald completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Tufts College, graduating the day after they were wed. He worked for the U.S. Navy as a civil engineer and was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He was named the First Naval District “Engineer of the Year” in 1965. He later became a construction project manager in the private sector, and then a resident engineer at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, retiring in 1990.

He and Ethelyn began raising their five children in North Easton, MA. The family spent summers at their “camp” at Bates Pond Shores in Carver, MA. Later, the Molander family moved to Carol Stream, IL, and then to Millersville, MD, where Donald and Ethelyn lived for thirty years. In 2007, they became residents of Augsburg Lutheran Home and Village in Baltimore, MD.

Donald loved his family; his daughter the late Donalyn Spada and her husband James, of New Milford, CT, his son John and his wife Carol of Marion, MA, his daughter Laurie Faklis and her husband Nicholas of Palos Park, IL, his son William and his wife Lori of Medina, OH and his daughter Mia Karen Burch and her husband Greg of New Milford, CT. He was proud of his seventeen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Always active in the Lutheran church, Donald was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in North Easton, MA, St. Andrew Lutheran Church in West Chicago, IL, and Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Millersville, MD. After retirement, he enjoyed volunteering at church events, reading, traveling around the country with his wife, and painting in acrylic and watercolor.

A memorial service to honor Donald will be held at 2pm on Sunday, March 18, 2018 in the Worship and Community Life Center at Augsburg Lutheran Home and Village, 6811 Campfield Road, Baltimore, MD 21207. His final resting place will be at the Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville, MD.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Donald’s memory can be made to Augsburg Lutheran Home and Village, 6811 Campfield Road, Baltimore, MD 21207.