Deceased August 16, 2006
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In Memory
After a losing battle with cancer, including removal of a cancerous kidney, Don passed away on August 16, 2006, at home in Rock Hill, SC, with his wife.
Born in Springfield, MA, on July 18, 1920, Don was the second of five sons raised by his parents, Frank and Alfaretta (Thurston) Auchter, in West Springfield, where he attended its schools. After a year at Monson Academy, he entered Amherst, enjoyed fraternity life at the Theta Delta Chi house, and graduated in time to enlist in the air force and drop bombs over Germany.
While settling multimillion dollar claims for Aetna, Don attended the Univ. of Connecticut law school and helped Polly raise their two children, Craig and Donna, in Glastonbury, CT. When Glastonbury became a separate probate district, Don became the first duly elected judge of probate for the District of Glastonbury and was re-elected many times without opposition until Polly and he retired to South Carolina to be near family.
Surviving Don are his wife, Pauline “Polly” (Boyd) Auchter; his son, Craig Auchter of Indianapolis and Bluefields, Nicaragua; his daughter, Donna Hummelman of Rock Hill; his brother, John R. Auchter ’44, of Palmer, MA; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial services were held in Rock Hill and later in Glastonbury.
Don was a long time member of the First Church of Christ, Congregational, in Glastonbury, where he was church school superintendent and deacon. He served on Glastonbury’s Town Planning and Zoning Commission and on the Town Council. He was president judge of the Connecticut Probate Assembly and president of the Connecticut Council on Adoption.
John Auchter ’44