HILLSBORO – Donald Russell Mellen, 93, died at his home Monday, April 18, 2016, with his wife by his side.
He was born in East Washington on May 30, 1922, the son of Leo and Nellie (Russell) Mellen. He attended local schools, graduating from Hillsboro High School in 1940, and attended Keene Teachers College. During World War II, he worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and at the Electric Boat Company in New London, Conn. He taught school for a year at the one-room Dole Schoolhouse in Washington, then worked as a land surveyor in Lexington, Mass., for 21 years. In 1967, he opened his practice in Hillsboro. He was a registered land surveyor in Massachusetts and a licensed land surveyor in New Hampshire.
While living in Lexington, he met Norma Louise Robson of Upton, Mass. They were married for 50 years until her death in 2004. In 2006, he married Janice (Maxwell) Robinson. He was predeceased by his parents and his sisters Audrey Minor of West Hartford, Conn., and Ruth Smith of Hillsboro.
He is survived by his wife, Janice; his sons, Gordon “Rick” Mellen and his wife, Pamela, and Peter Mellen and his wife, Anne, all of Hillsboro; his stepsons, Charles Robinson and his wife, Janine, of Laguna Beach, Calif., Daniel Robinson and his wife, Holly, of Brush Prairie, Wash., Gary Robinson and his wife, Kristen, of Los Gatos, Calif., and Steven Robinson and his wife, Martha, of Elmira, N.Y.; his five grandchildren, Emma Mayberry and her husband, Milo, of Berwick, Maine, Kate Bangert and her husband, Tyler, of North Berwick, Maine, Samuel Mellen of South Boston, Mass., Noah Mellen of Boston, Mass., and Alexander Mellen of Hillsboro; his eight step-grandchildren, Jeffrey Burke of Athens, Vt., Erin Moore and her husband, Gregory, of Dublin, and Cassidy, Caden, Benjamin, Emily, Maraika and Elliot Robinson; and several nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 30, at 1 p.m. at Smith Memorial Congregational Church, 30 W. Main St., Hillsboro.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to Smith Memorial Congregational Church, P.O. Box 672, Hillsboro 03244-0672.