Donald Ti Pan (82) of Belfast, ME died on May 25 at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME of complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. His passing was peaceful and he spent his last day and hours in the company of his wife, sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren.

Don was born on October 15, 1943 in Beijing, China to Pan Shi Yi and Lu Ching Shan. The family came to the US in 1947. His father, a pharmacologist, worked for Pfizer on the team that developed terramycin, one of the first broad spectrum antibiotics. The family lived in Queens, NY until the 1950s, when they moved to Waterford, CT when Pfizer moved from Brooklyn to southeastern CT. Don graduated from Waterford High School, where he was valedictorian, in 1960, and from Harvard University, where he was a National Merit Scholar, in 1964. He went to work for General Dynamics/Electric Boat in Groton, CT as a physicist/engineer.

In 1975 in Mystic, CT, he married Frances Ann Farley, a high school science teacher and they began a more than 50 year adventure together. In 1976-77 they took leaves of absences from their jobs to attend Wesleyan University in Middletown, Ct, both earning Masters degrees. Fran returned to teaching and Don continued studying, earning an additional Masters in Chinese language and history from Yale. After Yale he taught English in the physics department at Beijing University in China in 1979-80. The couple lived in a student dormitory on the University campus.

Returning from China in 1980, Don went to work as an acoustic physicist at BBN (Bolt, Baranek, and Newman) in New London, CT and they couple moved back to Mystic, where their two sons were born and grew up.

In 1995 he left BBN, Fran went back to work as a full time teacher, and Don took up running the household, doing all of the cooking, volunteering in the kids' schools, coaching their Little League teams, and leading their Scout troops. He served a term on the Groton School Board and was a long time mentor of students in the Groton Public Schools. He briefly taught physics at Fitch Senior High School in Groton, later being visited by at least one student who said he had become a physics teacher because of Mr. Pan.

After both of their sons had finished school in Groton and were basically on their own, Don and Fran continued their adventure by moving to Maine, where they had for years spent nearly every summer vacation camping and canoeing. They bought a house in Belfast Co-housing and EcoVillage, and in 2014 moved in. Don became chair of the  Co-housing Steering Committee, helping to see the building of the community through to completion. He later served as the chair of the Board of Directors of the co-housing Condo Association.

Don had served as a Hospice Volunteer in southeastern CT for over 15 years and he continued volunteering with Hospice in Belfast. In addition, he volunteered as a mentor with the MidCoast Restorative Justice Project. Until Covid, he also tutored and mentored students at Troy Howard Middle School. He was a faithful member of the River Sangha, a Buddhist meditation and study group, and became the Sangha's representative to the Greater Bay Area Ministerium (GBAM). He served on the board of GBAM's food cupboard.

Besides his wife, Frances Farley Pan, Don is survived by two brothers, Albert Pan (wife Virginia) of Lee, MA and Charles Pan (wife Carol) of Mystic, CT and two sons, Braden Pan (wife Lauren Amrhein) of Lebanon, NH and Lincoln  Pan (wife Claire) of Swanville, ME, and three beloved grandchildren - Leo, Kai, and Cynthia Pan. For over fifty years, Don was loved as an elder brother in his wife's family and he will be missed by four sisters-in-law: Lindsay Gettinger (George) of RI, Georgiana Deering (Robert) of England, Judy Tyler (Bruce) of Texas, and Sarah Stapleton (Mike Nerino) of PA and two brothers-in-law: Robert Farley (Margot) of Washington, DC, and Benjamin Farley of VA. In addition he leaves many cousins, nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. Family and community were of great importance to Don.

Don was buried in the Belfast Co-housing cemetery in early June. A celebration of his life will be held at 11AM on Saturday, July 11 at the Belfast Unitarian/Universalist (UU) Church in Belfast.

Gifts in Donald Pan's memory may be made to Sarah's House ("making essential care accessible for Mainers impacted by cancer - at no cost) 346 Main Rd, Holden, ME 04429, The Restorative Justice Project Maine in Belfast, Hospice Volunteers of Waldo County, the Greater Bay Area Ministerium Food Cupboard, or any charitable organization of the donor's choice. Another way to remember Don is to "carry a little kindness into the world in his name."