MIDDLEBURY Abbott Thayer Fenn, environmentalist and educator, died peacefully on Friday, April 3, 2015. He was 93. Abbott was born on May 26, 1921 in Concord, MA, the son of Roger Carlisle Fenn and Eleanor Baldwin Fenn and came from a long line of Unitarians and educators. He attended The Fenn School which his father founded in Concord in 1929 and graduated from Middlesex School (Concord, MA) and Harvard College, class of 1942, with a degree in engineering. He had strong ties to Vermont early on by way of the small hill farm in Weston that his ancestors operated until the early 1900s. Abbott is survived by his much-loved son, Ethan Abbott Fenn of Burlington, VT and Cambridge, MA; his sister, Margaret Margot Borden of Weybridge; his nieces Laurie Borden (Richard ODonnohue) of Weybridge, Sally Borden of Middlebury, Nancy Hanly Mandas (Stephen) of Ashland, VA; nephews Curt Borden of Weybridge, and Jack Hanly of Burke, VA; brother-in-law Will Hurd of Jacksonville, VTas well as many cherished great nieces & nephews and cousins. He is also survived by Gale Hurd of Weybridge, his former wife and trusted friend. He was pre-deceased by his parents, his sister, Edith Dedie Hanly, and brothers-in-law John Hanly and Walter Borden. It pleased Abbott that he was named after the well-known naturalist and artist, Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921) who wrote on the theory of protective/concealing coloration in nature, which some believe evolved into the first use of military camouflage during WWI. At Harvard he was a goaltender for the varsity hockey team, before the days of face masks. He was awarded the John Tudor Trophy as the athlete who also best embodies qualities of good sportsmanship. After graduation he joined the Army Air Corps and was stationed at the airfield in Norwich, England, charged with keeping B-29s operational and in the air. In 1945, just before the end of WWII, he and two fellow staff members (Alfred G. Waboos Hare of PA and Harold M. Slim Curtis of East Middlebury) bought Keewaydin Camps on Lake Dunmore in Salisbury, VT, the oldest private camp in the country. For the next 25 years Abby, as he is known by all Keewaydineesi, was a camp director in the summer and a teacher during the winter as a National Audubon naturalist in the Everglades and then as a7th and 8th grade math teacher at several schools including Milton Academy (MA), Pine Cobble School (Williamstown, MA) and Applewild School (Fitchburg, MA). His former students remember him as a caring teacher who inspired learning and who took a personal interest in them as individuals. With Warren King, Abby founded the Keewaydin Wilderness Trips Program; 4-8 week white-water canoe trips up into the Hudson Bay area of Quebec. Abby led many of the trips himself along with indigenous Cree Indian hunters/trappers as guides. He relished the very long, late spring drives up to Chibougamau to meet with and hire the guides and loved his succession of Cree dogs; Squish, Nmish, and Miska named after Lake Opemiska. He was part of a Vermont delegation that was sent to Canada to evaluate the proposed Hydro-Quebec Project. In 1970 Abbott and a fellow former hockey player started a semi-professional hockey team called the Fitchburg (MA) Hornets. The team is no longer extant but boasted, in its prime, star players like Mike Gilligan, retired hockey coach at the University of Vermont and Ben Smith, formerly a coach of the US Olympic Womens Hockey team. In 1971 he married Gale Hurd. Their son, Ethan, was born in 1972. After they moved year-round to Weybridgethere were lots of Dad activities including little league games, other sports-related events plus family trips during April school vacations to Greece & Turkey, Mexico, England, Maui and many visits to Red Sox Spring Training in Winter Haven and then Ft. Myers. Abbott was most pleased when Ethan followed in his skates &pads and was a goalie onhishockey teams at Milton Academy and Wesleyan University. By 1972 Keewaydin expanded to an almost year-round operation. With Gale in the kitchen, Abby and Waboos began hosting alumni reunions and weekend workshops at the camp and in the fall of 1973the Keewaydin Environmental Education Center (KEEC) was launched. During these years Abbott was active in the American and the Vermont Camping Associations, receiving awards from and serving as president of each. As a result of his environmental stewardship of Keewaydins 300+ acres along Lake Dunmore and up Mt. Moosalmoo, he was honored as the Vermont Tree Farmer of the Year. He was a licensed bird-bander andwas recognized for his environmental activism by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and the Environmental Protection Agency (New England Office). In 1986 Abbott retired from Keewaydin but not from camping as he went on to found the High Pond Audubon Camps based in Hubbardton. He was also one of the founders of the Weybridge Conservation Commission and of the Otter Creek Audubon Society. Abbott & Gale, in his words, achieved an honorable parting in 1991, at which time he moved from Weybridge to Battell Hill in Middlebury. He became active in the Unitarian Universalist Society which named their education building after him. He was a member of the Middlebury Planning Commission for several years. He was active in United Way and the Rotary Club of Middlebury, receiving their Stephen A Freeman Award for Community Service in 1999. He also served on the boards of the Sheldon Museum and of Shard Villa. Each noontime he could be found for conversation and stories at Lockwoods Restaurant or later up the hill at Steves Park Diner, always dapper in a white shirt and a tweed jacket or his green wool Keewaydin jacket. In 2012Abbott was one of the very first people to move into an independent apartment in the Inn at EastView at Middlebury where he had many friends,both old and new. He and Ethan attended many a Middlebury College hockey game together. In the fall of 2014 he moved into an EastView residential care apartment. From both spots he was able toobserve and enjoy the birds at his bird feeders and relish the fabulous views of Mt. Moosalmoo. Abbott was a devoted and much-loved supporter of his son Ethan, his many friends and everyone in his large extended family.Thanks to the caring & organizational skills of Laurie Borden, for the past 20 years the Fenn Family Reunion on Labor Day weekend has drawn 35-50 Fenn relatives from all the New England states, Virginia and as far away as Ohio and Italy. A former Keewaydin staffman referred to him as a man of wisdom, strength and principle and a local environmentalist as a warrior for the natural world. He was loved and will be missed by all. His family is very grateful to the staff at EastView for their collaborative professionalism, kindness and expert care during his final months. There will be a service of remembrance in Vermont in mid-May. Arrangements are by the Sanderson Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Abbotts name may be made to: Otter Creek Audubon Society, P.O. Box 938, Middlebury, VT 05753; to the Keewaydin Foundation, 950 West Shore Rd., Salisbury, VT 05769; or to the Fenn School, 516 Monument St., Concord, MA 01742. Online condolences at www.sandersonfuneralservice.com