David Hugh Porter passed away after an accidental fall during a walk on March 26, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Helen Porter, her daughter Cathrin Lawton, his children David, Everett, Helen, and Hugh, their spouses and children, and an extended family.
David Porter was born on October 29, 1935, in New York, NY. He was the only child of Hugh B. Porter, a well-known organist and president of Union Theological Seminary’s School of Music, and Ethel K. Flentye, teacher and pianist. He graduated high school from Collegiate School, received his B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1958, and his Ph.D. in classics in 1962 from Princeton University. He married Laudie Ernestine Dimmette in 1958, and in 1962 they moved to Minnesota, where David taught classics and music and they raised four children. He served as Carleton College’s president from 1986 to 1987. After Laudie’s untimely passing in 1987, he married Helen Luebke Nelson, who brought her daughter, Cathrin, to the family. Helen and David moved to Saratoga Springs where David assumed the presidency of Skidmore College. After leaving this appointment in 1999, he taught at Williams College, Indiana University, and Skidmore. In the last two decades, he launched a new line of study as he collected, read and wrote about Willa Cather. Throughout his life, he remained an active musician, performing on the harpsichord and piano, with a particular dedication to the work of Charles Ives, John Cage and George Crumb. He received many recognitions for his contributions, including honorary degrees from Skidmore in 1998 and Carleton in 2011.
He published widely, including a book on Horace’s odes and another on Greek tragedies, an edition of pianist Eduard Steuermann’s writings, a collection of essays about Carleton, three books about the Hogarth Press, two major books on Willa Cather, and very recently a significant essay for the historical edition of Cather’s Lucy Gayheart. He also co-authored with his wife, Helen, a book on Skidmore College founder Lucy Skidmore Scribner.
Whether teaching, administering or writing, he welcomed students in all parts of his life, and he marveled at their diverse talents and new perspectives. This love of people and learning carried over to his family life, where lively dinner-table debates and word play were enjoyed and, indeed, expected.
A common description for David Porter was renaissance man. In addition to his professional work, he played baseball, scaled the White Mountains’ 4,000-footers and served on multiple boards.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, April 8, in Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College, 815 North Broadway in Saratoga Springs. For those wishing to send remembrances, the family suggests contributions in David’s memory be made to Carleton College’s Laudie Porter Memorial Fund, Skidmore College’s David and Helen Porter Scholarship Fund or another charity of their choosing.
Memories can be shared online at www.skidmore.edu/president/porter/.
In loving memory,
The Porter Family
March 2016
