Graham Donaldson

Graham Francis Donaldson was born in Temora, Australia of a farming family on 25 August 1937 – as his father would say, “toward the end of a depression, at the beginning of a world war, and in the middle of a drought”. He was the eldest of three children of Fergus William Donaldson and Thora Howard Donaldson (née Grady). His early education in rural Australia mostly took place in one room, one teacher schoolhouses. One particularly inspiring teacher introduced the students to ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) educational broadcasts, which opened up the wider world to Graham – a world which he knew was out there, but until then rarely heard anything of. He credits this with starting him towards the fulfilling career he ultimately had as an international civil servant.

His parents emphasized the importance of education and this clearly had an impact, as after high school he headed to the University of Sydney, the first in his family to pursue post-secondary studies. There he studied agriculture with the ambition to improve the lot of Australian farmers. While at Sydney he met Robin Mary Thomas, and after they both graduated they were married. His thirst for knowledge was not yet quenched, however, so two years after marrying, he and Robin headed to England where shortly after arriving they both were offered employment at Wye College of the University of London. There they made many cherished lifelong friends.

After six years studying and analyzing farm practices in England and Canada, including a 15 month stint with the Agricultural Commission in Ottawa, Graham was offered a position at the World Bank in Washington D.C. as an advisor on rural development economics where he did field work in many developing countries. Then he became Chief Agricultural Economist, where he ran a “division”, which wrote policy papers, and signed off on the economic analysis of all agricultural projects before they were sent to the Board of Executive Directors for final approval. This position was very demanding of his time, requiring frequent travel, sometimes for up to five weeks at a time. So after 10 years, he moved departments, in part to have more time with his growing family, becoming Chief of Operations Evaluation. After starting out with the ambition to improve the lot of Australian farmers, he ended up spending most of his career endeavouring to improve the lot of some of the most disadvantaged farmers around the world.

Fulfilling though it was, the work was stressful, and that took its toll on Graham’s health. At 56 years of age he underwent double bypass heart surgery, an intervention which extended his life by nearly 30 years, so in addition to all his other accomplishments, he was a cardiac success story! Nevertheless that event prompted a change, and subsequently, and after 25 years in Washington, Graham and Robin retired to the Eastern Shore. There they enjoyed being stewards of The River House, an historic house on 12 landscaped acres, located on the high banks of the Corsica River, outside of Centreville, MD. They spent their days as carers of the land, Robin as chief gardener tending the flower beds and Graham as arborist and steward of the trees. They took great pride in their botanical achievements, and took great pleasure in sharing the beauty they oversaw with friends and family visiting from far and near. They made many good friends in the area and enjoyed entertaining family and friends from throughout their careers and from around the world at The River House.

Their other great love was for the epicurean delights – good food, good wine, both best shared with friends and family. They loved entertaining, and hosted many a dinner party at The River House. They both enjoyed cooking, and Graham was an aficionado and proud advocate of fine Australian wines, devoting a significant portion of the basement to be a wine cellar. And then there were the stories – Graham was an excellent story teller. Sitting on the porch one day shortly after guests had left Graham said to Robin in serious consideration, “You must get awfully tired of hearing my old stories over and over?” “Oh, no,” she said, “I never get tired of your stories — you never tell the same story twice!”

Robin passed away in 2014, and Graham stayed on at The River House for a few years, but 12 acres is a lot for a widowed octogenarian to manage, and he moved to Bay Woods of Annapolis retirement facility in 2020.

After a life well lived, on March 16, 2023 Graham Francis Donaldson died peacefully at Bay Woods, Annapolis, aged 85 years, his children Fergus and Peta Mary near. He also leaves behind four greatly beloved grandsons, Ewan, Grayden, Duncan, and Theodore, as well as his adored sister Elaine and brother Howard and many cherished cousins, nieces, nephews, and dear friends around the world. As he would say, not bad for a boy from the bush!

Graham has family and many friends all over the world, so the family will hold his memorial virtually (on Zoom) to give as many people the ability to attend and participate as possible. The family will share the link. The memorial will take place at 7pm ET Thursday, March 30 (10am AEDT Friday, March 31).

In lieu of flowers, memorials in his name to any of the following organizations will be appreciated.: Adkins Arboretum - https://www.adkinsarboretum.org/, your local food bank, Oxfam - Oxfam America oxfamamerica.org, Salvation Army - The Salvation Army USA salvationarmyusa.org.