1922 – 2004

BLUE HILL – Richard Woodbury Sampson, 81, died April 1, at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital.

Born April 24, 1922, in Newton, Mass., he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Bowdoin College and a master’s degree in education from Tufts University. He also received a master’s degree in mathematics from Boston University.

During World War II, he was a meteorologist with the U.S. Air Force, serving in southeastern U.S. and South America.

He was a mathematics professor at Bates College in Lewiston for 38 years. During his career at Bates he was well-known for his ability to inspire and encourage students, both through his passionate and creative teaching of mathematics and his active interest in other aspects of students’ lives. Upon his retirement in 1990, his friends and colleagues established the Richard W. Sampson Lecture Fund, which brings an outstanding mathematician to the campus each year to lecture on a mathematical subject of interest.

Following his retirement, he continued to teach part-time at Bates, Northeastern University and the University of Southern Maine. He was active in state and national mathematical organizations and he worked closely with Maine secondary school teachers in collaborative efforts to improve the teaching of mathematics. He also taught at several summer institutes for high school and college mathematics teachers at Bowdoin College.

An active sailor and hiker, he was faculty advisor to the Bates College Outing Club for many years and was on the board of directors of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club for two decades. He also served as a trustee of the Lewiston Public Library and was one of the founders of L/A Arts, a non-profit arts organization in Lewiston-Auburn.

Music was a particular love of his throughout his life and he played the piano very well by ear. His musical tastes were eclectic and included Mahler, Ravel, Debussy, jazz pianists Errol Garner and Keith Jarrett, Carlos Santana and Latin music. He also loved to dance.

In 2002, he moved to Blue Hill, where he tutored mathematics in local schools, continued to hike, sail and dance, volunteered at the local food co-operative and was active in the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill.

Survivors include his son, Stephen of Bar Harbor; daughters-in-law, Elisa Hurley of Bar Harbor and Kathy Hickey Sampson of Cambridge, Mass.; grandchildren, Annika, Ian and Oliver; and twin sister, Eleanor Carberry of Wells.

He was predeceased by his wife, Jean Byers Sampson; son, Caleb; and brother, David.