Douglas Albert Vollmer

YARMOUTH – Douglas Albert Vollmer was born in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Sept. 16, 1930, to Walter E. and Amy E. Olive (Griffin) Vollmer. He peacefully passed away from kidney failure on Jan. 16, 2025, under the compassionate and incredible care of the Maine Veterans’ Home in Scarborough.

Douglas had a full and wondrous life. He spent his childhood in Larchmont and Mamaroneck, N.Y., observing and catching hawks, crows, snakes, and other creatures. His parents were extremely tolerant of the animals he brought home, except for the giant snapping turtle Douglas delivered in his wagon, which was immediately rejected and returned to the wild.

His parents later purchased North Creek Farm in Sebasco, Maine, where Douglas spent summers as a teenager on the water and exploring the coastline. This was the age when he first became interested in collecting specimens and photographing marine life with his box camera. These experiences were the ones most responsible for shaping his career as a biology teacher, as they instilled a lifelong sense of wonder and enthusiasm for the natural world.

He graduated from the University of Maine (Orono) in 1953, with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation. While at UMO, he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and a 1952 member of the track and field team. That year, Douglas was co-champion in high jumping for the state of Maine. While at UMO, Douglas enrolled in the Naval Reserves. After graduation he attended quartermaster school at the U.S. Naval Training Center Bainbridge in Port Deposit, Md., and was then assigned to the Knudson-APD 101, an all purpose destroyer from the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. Douglas and crew departed San Diego in May 1954, and participated in Operation “Passage to Freedom,” during which the Navy evacuated almost 300,000 Vietnamese from North to South Vietnam. The crew returned to San Diego in November 1954, and his military commitment ended in 1955.

After military service, Douglas’ first job was with California Fish and Game monitoring commercial fishing and tagging striped bass and white and green sturgeon in the American River. Upon completing his fisheries position, Douglas departed for the east coast, but fell in love with Montana while driving over Beartooth Pass. He soon relocated to Missoula where he earned a teaching certificate, then later a M.S.T. in Teaching Science, from the University of Montana. He went on to teach biology at Sentinel and Hellgate High Schools (Missoula) between 1958 to 1966. Students often brought in animals for his inspection and rehabilitation, which resulted in a rattlesnake, porcupine, and a wounded Great Horned Owl becoming long-term residents of the classroom.

During the summer of 1960, Douglas traveled throughout Europe and Scandinavia. While in England he connected with the British Falconers Club. After learning of his interest in falconry, director Michael Woodford invited Douglas to participate in the Club’s 1961 Peregrine Falcon Inventory in Scotland. That following summer Douglas and Club members toured Scottish estates to observe falcons on the property, as well as rappelled down cliffs around Loch Ness to inspect nests and count eggs. His time in Scotland with Woodford was instrumental in the trajectory of Douglas’ lifelong passion for falconry and birds of prey and was one of the most impactful life events he would experience.

During that 1960 visit and while in Sweden, he briefly met his future wife, Kristina B. Hansson. They reconnected in 1962 and became engaged. They were married on Jan. 26, 1963, in Trollhattan, Sweden, but returned to Montana where they bought a home in Lolo and Douglas resumed teaching high school in Missoula. Family members included dogs, cats, a pet raven, an injured Golden Eagle, and eventually son Niklas, who was born in 1966.

Shortly after Niklas’ birth, Douglas was offered the position of Chairman of the Science Department at the newly opened Hyde Prep School in Bath, Maine. Upon accepting, he and Kristina drove cross-country with their 6-week old baby, two dogs and a canoe tied to the roof of the car to start their next life chapter. At Hyde, Douglas was responsible for establishing the science lab and teaching general biology classes to high school students, along with coaching the school’s football and ski teams. In 1968 Douglas resigned from Hyde and the family moved to Yarmouth. A year later daughter Jennifer was born.

For the next almost 50 years, Douglas shifted to teaching at the college level. Between 1968-1988, as a full professor, he taught human anatomy/physiology to nursing students at Westbrook College (which later merged with the University of New England), where he was also Chair of the Science/Mathematics Department and later Director of the Medical Technology Program. As an adjunct professor, he also taught coastal ecosystems and anatomy/physiology courses to art students at the Maine College of Art (MECA) between 1976-2015, as part of their liberal arts program. At MECA Douglas innovatively merged science and art, as well as taught students out in the field at the rocky tidal shore, in salt marshes, and at the beach as a significant component of their learning experience. Through this immersive format, students expanded their sense of wonder, creativity, and skills that no lab, lecture, or textbook could otherwise have provided. Douglas also taught at Saint Joseph’s College, University of Southern Maine, and North Yarmouth Academy. He was a guest speaker at the Yarmouth Elementary School, where he worked with third graders studying Maine tidal marshes. For many years he also volunteered for the Maine Nature Conservancy, monitoring an area that included the Bates Morse Mountain 500-acre preserve.

Over his extended 60-plus year teaching career, Douglas was an impactful educator and mentor who cared deeply about his students. He inspired many to appreciate the natural world and to also embrace science. He loved teaching and didn’t retire from the profession until he was 84.

Douglas was a longtime member of both the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) and its Gulf of Maine chapter (GOMMEA). In 2017 he was honored as NMEA’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year. He was a life-long cyclist and avid x-c skier. At the age of 60, he biked cross-country (Seattle to Maine) with his daughter, Jennifer, and continued cycling into his late 80s. Freeport’s Winslow Park was his favorite place to socialize and walk, especially with his beloved Australian cattle dog, Ollie. Douglas liked to joke and tell tall tales, and for years his children actually believed he’d played professional football for the New York Giants.

He was a loving husband and father and is survived by his wife, Kristina; son, Niklas and grandson, Tannus; daughter, Jennifer (Loren Dickey) and grandson, Maximilian; brother, Donald (Charlene); nieces, nephews; cousins; and sisters/brothers-in-law.

Even after death and per his request, Douglas continues to educate students as his body was donated to the Anatomical Donor Program at the University of New England.

A celebration of Douglas’ life will be held sometime this summer.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift to the:

Cornell Ornithology

Lab or to:

a nonprofit working to address climate change