Donna Lee Cheney

FALMOUTH – Donna Lee Litchfield Cheney passed away peacefully at home in Falmouth, Maine, on April 28, 2022. Born in Augusta, Maine, on Nov. 24, 1942, as the only child of Leola (Lee) and Donald E. Litchfield. Donna graduated from Cony High School and Westbrook Junior College in 1962. Donna married Bill Cheney in 1972 and they had 30 wonderful years together until he passed away in May 2002. They both worked and enjoyed traveling to the West Coast; Western Canada; Alaska (four times!); Hudson Bay, Canada to see polar bears; Switzerland to ski; and the Azores. They enjoyed their ski home in Bridgton, Maine, their cottage in East Boothbay, Maine, and their homes in Boston and Beverly Farms, Massachusetts; Merrimack, New Hampshire; and ultimately Falmouth, Maine. Together they had no children, but Donna was fortunate enough to have and become very close to Bill’s three children, Margot Cheney Jacoby (Doug), Mary Martha Wilson (Mark), and Christopher Eagan Cheney. They have their own children therefore, Donna has nine grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren. Donna has a cousin, Gary Laneau (Joanne), whom she remained very close to. Until Donna retired in 1998, she worked with Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., a Boston-based engineering firm as their Chief of Secretarial Services. She then moved to become an independent word processing consultant. After five years of working independently, she returned to corporate life as a manager and ultimately Director of Corporate Education with Wang Laboratories. She ended her career as the President/COO of the Patricia Seybold Group in Boston, a research and consulting firm in distributed computing. While working at Metcalf & Eddy, she was nominated and accepted to the Westbrook Junior College Alumni Association and became President of that board in 1984. In 1987 she was on the Westbrook Junior College/Westbrook College Board of Trustees as an Alumni Trustee, then became a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of New England (UNE) during the merger of Westbrook and University of New England. She thoroughly enjoyed these activities from 1987-2003. Donna received the Tower Award for Alumni Achievement in 1997. Donna also received the prestigious Deborah Morton Award from the University of New England for outstanding achievement within and for the State of Maine. In 1992 Donna joined the Board of Trustees for Bigelow Laboratory Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine, retiring in 2008 at the end of her second term as Board Chair. She had a passion for the oceans and working with the renowned organization which was very rewarding for her. Donna was very community-minded and served on the Sustainability and Shellfish Committees and as an election worker for the Town of Falmouth. Donna is predeceased by her parents, Leola and Donald E. Litchfield; her husband William A. Cheney; and granddaughter, Martha P. Papworth O’Neill. Hall’s of Boothbay has care of the arrangements. To extend online condolences, please visit hallfuneralhomes.com .Services will be private.In lieu of flowers please send contributions in memory of Donna Lee Cheney to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences at 60 Bigelow Drive, East Boothbay, ME 04544 (www.bigelow.org\\donate), or University of New England at 716 Stevens Ave., Portland, ME 04103 (mmanning6@une.edu).