Donald MacLennan Obituary

Donald Allan MacLennan, Ph.D. Physicist. What a wonderful life this great, altruistic, loving man lived. Donald Allan MacLennan, PhD Physicist, at age 77, passed away in Gaithersburg, MD, on February 28, 2014, after a valiant, year-long battle with undifferentiated Neuroendocrine Merkel Cell Cancer. Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, MacLennan was a man of great dignity who grew up in Sacramento, California, where he attended public schools. He graduated from University of California at Berkeley, with honors in Engineering and a PhD in Physics.
Highly respected as an "inspiration" with a reputation for "brilliance"
among his colleagues, Donald enjoyed a distinguished career, known for his creativity, shown in a vast range of expertise. His contributions ranged from designing nuclear reactors to fluorescent lamps at General Electric Company, to technical management of the flash sources business at EG&G, (now Perkin Elmer), to developing defense against Improvised Explosive Devices
(IEDs) at BAE Systems. Following five years at BAE, Donald went on, well past retirement age, to add significant input to the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) with the Department of Defense
(DOD) and through Lanmark Technology and Ideal Innovations, Inc.; and to take part as a consultant in project development for the Pentagon.
Donald was dedicated to the prevention of loss of life of innocent civilians and young troops in the Middle East.
During his years as a Principal Research Scientist in the Washington D.C.
area, where Don led projects in electrodeless lamps, MacLennan discovered a lamp excitation method, characterized by an expert witness as a "once in a decade" breakthrough. Along the way, he was issued 12 patents, (five
pending) and was one of the designers of the Sulfur Lighting System, recognized with many international awards in 1995.
Don was a happy family man who loved to share his technical expertise by helping other home owners at the Courtyards at Rio Townhome Community, where he served as the lighting committee, "the man who kept the yard lamps on."
The HOA board is installing a new street lamp in his honor with a plaque dedicated to his name.
A Scottish Memorial for Donald MacLennan, with bagpipes will be held on Saturday, April 12, at 3:00 P.M., at the River Road Unitarian Universalist Church, 6301 River Road, Bethesda, MD 20817. All are invited. Please call the church for directions.
Donald is survived by an adoring wife, Rosalind, a twin sister, Diana Record, a retired school teacher, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a younger brother, Rod MacLennan, a retired airline first officer/captain for Eastern Airlines, who now is head of his own business, Airline Captain for a Day, in Las Vegas, and a large extended family.
MacLennan took great pride in his marriage of 47 years to his loving wife, Rosalind Lacy MacLennan, and his three grown children, Nicole, son-in-law, Dr. Leon Henderson-MacLennan, who live in Pacific Palisades, California, Duane, who is a manager at Farmer Brothers Coffee in Los Angeles, and Alicia, a pilot and first officer for Qatar Airways in Doha, Qatar; and granddaughters, Maribel, 6, Gabriela age 3. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the American Cancer Society in memory of Donald A. MacLennan.


This obituary was originally published in The Gazette (Gaithersburg, MD).