Keith MacBain died at his home in Southampton, Massachusetts, September 13th, of complications from Parkinson’s Disease. Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Keith attended Deerfield Academy, and graduated in 1956. He received a BA in English from Cornell University in 1960 and an MA from Columbia Teachers College in 1964. He married Cynthia Loring in August of 1960, and they moved to Homewood, Illinois, to teach for two years.
After moving back to Connecticut, Keith taught English at New Canaan High School in Connecticut through 1990, and was Chairman of the English Department for the last ten years. Keith also coached football, basketball and was Head Baseball coach at New Canaan for most of that time. He was inducted into the NCHS Hall of Fame in 2008.
The MacBains were active in the peace and justice movement in Connecticut. They organized demonstrations and teach-ins with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and lobbied for Agent Orange International. In response to local lobbying efforts, their Congressman sponsored an Amerasian Bill to aid children and their mothers left behind by U.S. soldiers, as well as to facilitate immigration to the United States. They were active in the Campaign for a US/USSR Freeze and Freeze Voter and organized both demonstrations of the effects of nuclear explosions on the military-related sites of Connecticut, and teach-ins with the Physicians for Social Responsibility.
At retirement, the MacBains moved to the Finger Lakes in New York, where they were trained in the Master Gardeners’ Program. Keith volunteered at the Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse and the Baltimore Woods Nature Center in Marcellus, as well as the “Hot Line”of the Master Gardeners’ office in Auburn.
Keith leaves behind his wife Cynthia, his son Bruce MacBain of Auburn, New York, his daughter Catherine MacBain of Florence, Massachusetts and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be planned for next spring, when the family hopes that there will be a vaccine for Covid 19, and attending a service will not be a health risk for family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, people are invited to donate to Cooley Dickinson VNA and Hospice, PO Box 329, Northampton, MA 01061, or to DopaFit, Inc., an exercise and support program for people with Parkinson’s Disease at 15 College Highway STE C, Southampton, Massachusetts 01073.
[Note: This obituary appeared on legacy.com.]