Richard Budd McAdoo

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts – Richard Budd McAdoo, 97, died on January 6, 2018. Born March 25, 1920, in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, Richard was the devoted husband of the late Mary Wigglesworth McAdoo. He attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and graduated early with Harvard University's Class of 1942 in order to enlist in the U.S. Army. Dick fought with the 989th Field Artillery in Europe during WWII and was discharged in 1945 as a captain.

In 1946 he began a 21-year career as an editor at Harper & Bros. Publishers in New York. In 1968 he and Mary moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he worked for Houghton Mifflin Co. as editor-in-chief. He retired as vice president and general manager in 1982. After traveling with Mary by camper throughout the United States, he then turned his hand to sculpture, studying for many years with the late Joseph Wheelwright. He and Mary spent weekends and summers at their 1770 farmhouse in Temple, where he was a member of the Congregational church. He and Mary established the Temple 250th Anniversary Fund, which awards grants to public projects in the town they both enjoyed so much. Dick's many projects and interests included land conservation and the Monadnock Conservancy. He served on the board of Monadnock Music and participated as executive, board member, worker at fairs and benefits, fund-raiser, audience member, and party host. The Temple house was often a place to host others, or to be with Mary, sending music at night from the porch out two large speakers, across the fields and into the woods.

He is survived by his daughters, Maisie McAdoo (David Neustadt) of Brooklyn, New York; Pamela McAdoo (William Denton) of Reno, Nevada; and Julia McAdoo (Timothy Winship) of Temple; as well as many nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. on March 3, at Brookhaven at Lexington in Lexington, Massachusetts. Donations in his memory may be made to the Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 54 Portsmouth St., Concord, NH 03301, or Brookhaven Employee Scholarship Fund, 1010 Waltham St., Lexington MA 02421.