DONALD EDGAR LANDRY

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Donald Edgar Landry, 77, passed away peacefully Sept. 20, 2008, surrounded by his family at home from pneumonia. He was born in Concord, N.H., in 1931, son of Eugene F. “Minnow” Landry and Mary Fisher Landry of Dimond Hill. He was a gifted athlete, lettering in baseball, hockey and leading the Concord High School football team as co-captain, 1948-1949. He attended Bowdoin College, Brunswick. He played football, becoming a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and joining the ROTC program. He graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, serving from 1953 to 1954. He began his management career in 1954 with Sears Roebuck & Co., Portland, and was then promoted to Sears Boston Fenway Park Headquarters as candy buyer for New England and upstate New York. In 1957, he moved to corporate headquarters in Chicago, serving as national candy buyer for all Sears retail stores and catalogue sales nationwide. He was promoted to vice president of Sears Roebuck in Bogota, Colombia, South America, from 1964 to 1969. He also served as school board chairman of Colegio Nueva Granada, was in the American Society of Bogota and the president of Colombia Toastmasters International. Don moved to Dallas, as head of the buying department of Sears’ Southwestern Territory from 1969 to 1974. He developed the twin-factory partnership approach with Mexican investors. Returning to Chicago, he became the national merchandise manager for multiple departments. Retiring from Sears in 1986, he moved to Cape Elizabeth, and in 1988 to East Orland and Amelia Island Plantation, Fla. Throughout his life, he was an avid hunter and expert marksman. Golf and travel with family were also favorite pursuits. Canoeing, gardening and beachcombing were passions during later years. His keen intelligence and sense of humor helped him as he bravely struggled with Alzheimer’s disease for 12 years. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Marcia Clarke Landry; three children, Pamela Landry Teichman of Barbados, Lisa Landry Zimmerman and Ronald of Fort Collins, Colo., and Mark Clarke Landry and Julie of Woodland, Wash.; and one grandchild, Taylor Clarke Zimmerman. A memorial service will be held in Maine in 2009.