William Douglas Lindsay Jr.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Some 28 driving miles east of Montpelier, Vermont, on the west shore of Groton Pond, sits a century-old camp that will never be the same. This is because Astenrogen (place among the rocks), lost on October 23, 2021, its patriarch and proudest occupant, William Douglas Lindsay Jr. Doug, as he was known throughout his 81 years, passed away peacefully in his Saratoga Springs home while surrounded by family.
Doug was born on March 9, 1940, to Dr. William Douglas Lindsay and Helena Lindsay (Pembroke) in Montpelier, VT. Along with his four sisters, the precocious boy spent his formative years between his two favorite places, home and the family camp on Vermont’s Groton Pond. He attended public school locally before venturing to Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, where in 1962 he earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science accompanied by a minor in American History.
It was immediately upon graduation that Lindsay began his life of service. He enlisted in the Army National Guard during the tumultuous Vietnam War epoch, serving six years, before volunteering for and earning membership in the Peace Corps. After, Lindsay began his working life with Dunn and Bradstreet and then the National Institute of Health. During an afternoon hike in 1969, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas suggested Lindsay apply to work for the National Park Service. He did and spent the remainder of his career serving that organization.
His first stop was in 1971 as the National Park Service’s inaugural Site Manager for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Following a successful tour, his responsibilities increased when National Park Service leadership saw fit to place Washington’s most famous monuments and memorials under his tutelage where he oversaw the city’s bicentennial celebrations; a street was named in his honor for his contributions. Next—in a desire to find his way closer to his beloved Vermont—came the superintendent position at Massachusetts’ historic Springfield Armory before capping off a triumphant career as Superintendent of the Saratoga National Historical Park, better known as the Saratoga Battlefield. Here he was responsible for leading the 220th and 225th anniversary celebrations of what most believe was the turning point of the Revolutionary War while simultaneously managing an extensive effort to return to its original state the battlefield‘s vegetation and landscape.
Although Lindsay’s life was filled with numerous professional accomplishments, to him, they were near meaningless when compared to his roles as father, friend, brother, and husband. His wife Sheila Conway of Wilton; daughters Noreen O’Dea (Frank Lyons) of Wilton, Catherine Lindsay of Binghamton, and Meghan Lindsay (Jonathon Molik), also of Wilton; sisters Susan Lindsay (Robert Youker) of Bethesda, MD, Joan Lindsay (William Johnson) of Oxbo, ME, Anne Lindsay of Washington D.C., and Jane Lindsay (predeceased); grandchildren Timothy O’Dea, Chelsea O’Dea, Nicholas Lyons, Madigan Lyons, Ethan Molik, and Kendall Molik; and two great-grandchildren will forever remember him as the most humble, compassionate, empathic, and jovial person they had the pleasure of loving. Whether spitting out dates from esoteric foreign wars amid a dinner of Maryland hard-shell crab, opining on which family of lilac grows best in Vermont during halftime of a Washington Football Team game, to taking his toddler-aged daughters on special camp trips to give Mommy a well-deserved break, or directing family members helping maintain Astenrogen, the incomparable Doug Lindsay left a positive imprint on everyone he touched. His class and character were such that all who met him were better for having done so.
Relatives and friends may call from 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, November 4 at the William J Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway Saratoga Springs (518-584-5373).
Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuneralhome.com