Donaldson, Alec M. (unknown/1994)

From our 30th reunion memorial service
Alec Donaldson was a Philosophy major and a member of Heorot. He lived in San Francisco for ten years before returning home to Massachusetts where he died in the spring of 1994, following an extended battle with mental illness.

From the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine

ALEC MCBRIDE DONALDSON, was found deceased on May 11, 1994, in New York City, where he had been job hunting. He had been missing since April 5. Alec’s death followed an extended battle with manic depression.

Born in White Plains, N.Y., and brought up in Scarsdale, Alec was a member of Heorot at Dartmouth. He graduated in 1980 and moved to San Francisco, where he lived until 1990. He returned to the East Coast to live briefly with his parents, Anne and David Donaldson, in Orleans, MA, before moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Alec is survived by his parents, four brothers including Robert ‘84, and three nieces. His father is a member of the class of ‘43.

A fund has been set up in Alec’s memory to assist in research on manic depression. Donations may be made to the Alec Donaldson Memorial Fund, care of McLean Hospital, 115 Mill St, Belmont, MA 02178, Attn: Dr. Joseph Davis.

The following letter from Alec’s parents appeared in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.

To Alec’s friends:

It seems appropriate to add some details which might clarify Alec’s situation for his college classmates and many other friends.

After graduation in 1980, Alec and several classmates and Heorot friends, including Barks Penick and Johnny Olszewski, went to San Francisco to seek their fortunes. They all found jobs as bartenders. Alec continued in the bar business as the symptoms of manic depression, eventually complicated by paranoia, began to drag him down. We suspect that it started to affect him well before he finally came back to our home on Cape Cod to seek help in the spring of 1990.

That first summer he got several summer jobs on the Cape but was unable to get a permanent position here. He moved to Cambridge that winter and lived there independently, always trying unsuccessfully to find a permanent job. During this whole period he was under excellent psychiatric treatment at McLean Hospital in Boston, but the side effects of the multiple medications were very difficult to live with, and although many different medications were tried, they were not really successful. In short, Alec’s illness was very difficult to treat. All during this period Alec had suicidal thoughts in varying degrees of severity.

Ultimately, after doing everything he had been advised to do as a good patient, Alec must have decided to take control of his life and end it. He disappeared on April 5, and his body was found on May 11 in the Hudson River near the George Washington Bridge, from which we are sure he jumped.

During that month dozens of friends and relatives and hundreds of strangers assisted us in a massive search for Alec in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Over eight thousand ìmissing personî posters were distributed in places including part of the route of the Boston Marathon. It was amazing to us to see the great support we got from all those we asked for help.

In particular, the New York police were outstanding in their response, guidance, and support throughout the whole period. Detective O’Connell even attended Alec’s memorial service in Hartford.

Our family and his many friends have established an Alec Donaldson Memorial Fund, and contributions to that fund can be sent to McLean Hospital, attention of Dr. Joseph Davis, Research Administrator, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02178. To date, well over 80 donations have been made to this fund, which will be used to support future research into the treatment of manic depression.

Anne and Dave Donaldson D’43 T’46

Anne and Dave Donaldson would welcome mail or visits from the Dartmouth community. Their address is P.O. Box 499, Orleans, MA 02653.