ORONO
Dr. Robert D. Dunlap, Ph.D., age 97, died Sept. 18, 2019, at Dirigo Pines in Orono. He was born April 5, 1922, in Carbondale, Pa., the eldest son of Homer C. and Mildred M. (Downing) Dunlap.
Bob graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in 1940, received a BA in chemistry from Colgate University in 1944, and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Penn State University in 1949. He was a professor of chemistry at the University of Maine from 1949 until his retirement in 1991. Bob married Cynthia Cowan of Portland in 1953; they celebrated 66 years of marriage in June. In 1950, Bob joined the Penobscot Valley Ski Club, where he and Cindy were active members, promoting skiing and ski racing in the greater Bangor area, and in the Green Lake Association and the Maine Lakes Society, monitoring Green Lake and collecting and analyzing water quality data. Bob was active in the Boy Scouts as a youth, becoming an Eagle Scout, and later served as Webelos den leader and committee member for Orono Cub Scout Pack 47. Bob immensely enjoyed the outdoors, making frequent trips to hike and ski on Mount Katahdin, Mount Washington and in Acadia National Park. He loved organizing numerous family trips and other events, often including his extended family of colleagues and graduate students, exploring the Allagash and many of Maine’s remote camping destinations. He passionately developed land on Green Lake, designing and building a camp which has been the center of many memorable gatherings.
Surviving, in addition to his wife, Cynthia, are his daughter, Constance Dunlap Barnes of Ellsworth; sons David Homer Dunlap and his wife, Jean, of Albuquerque, N.M., and Stephen Cowan Dunlap and his wife, April, of Orchard Park, N.Y.; five grandchildren, Kyle Barnes, Matthew and Megan Dunlap, and Heather and Carissa Dunlap; two brothers, Charles Dunlap of Trumansburg, N.Y., and Fred Dunlap and his wife, Marilyn, of Hamilton, N.Y.; sister Marion Bauldauf and her husband, Dave, of Rhinebeck, N.Y.; and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life will be held at the Church of Universal Fellowship in Orono on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Steve Smith officiating. Interment will be at 2:30 p.m. at Riverside Cemetery in Orono, followed by a gathering for family and friends at Dirigo Pines.
Gifts in memory of Dr. Dunlap can be made payable to the University of Maine Foundation, Two Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469-5792 or online at our.umaine.edu/dunlap for the Robert D. Dunlap Scholarship. Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.