Mary Stelle Donin, 77, of Hanover, NH, died peacefully at Hanover Terrace Health and Rehabilitation Center on September 16, 2026 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease. Mary Medlicott Stelle was born on May 19, 1949 to William Watts Stelle and Mary Stillman Kendrick and grew up in Mt. Kisco, NY. Mary attended St. Mary’s in the Mountains school (later renamed The White Mountain School) in Littleton, NH and Briarcliff College, during which she spent a semester at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France. 

While at St. Mary’s in the Mountains, she was elected senior class president and when she returned home, her father hung a bed sheet over the front steps which he had hand-painted to read, “Welcome Home Miss President!” 

After graduating in 1971 from Boston University, where she majored in French, she worked as a legal secretary and paralegal with the Washington, D.C. firm Surrey, Karasik and Morse where she met her future husband, Robert Donin, a summer law clerk. They were married in June, 1975 and settled in Washington. 

In 1977-78, they lived in London, England where Mary worked for an American law firm while Bob pursued graduate legal work in international law. It was a wonderful year during which they traveled extensively around Great Britain and made side trips to France, the Netherlands, and Greece. 

After returning to Washington, Mary held a series of law-related positions at the Sullivan & Cromwell law firm, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Georgetown Law School.

Mary and Bob moved to Wellesley, MA in 1984 and to Hanover, NH in 2000. Shortly after relocating to Hanover, Mary completed studies for the Master of Library Science degree at Simmons College and was hired as a librarian in the Special Collections Department of the Dartmouth College Library where her work focused on the library’s oral history project. In that position, she developed many lasting friendships and a reputation as a thorough researcher and a kind and sensitive listener. One couple who Mary interviewed for a project on Dartmouth during WWII said: “As she started the interview, she told us that we might cry, and we did cry.” 

Her favorite position, however, was the one she later held as a researcher for Dartmouth President Emeritus James Wright as he was writing his books “Those Who Have Borne the Battle” and “Enduring Vietnam."

Mary was an avid gardener and knitter, and an active member of the Hanover community, serving in various volunteer capacities including Sustainable Hanover andthe boards of the Howe Library and Maynard House. Her proudest role, however, was as the mother of Nicholas, Peter and Margaret and loving grandmother of five. 

In 2010, Mary and Bob bought a home in Eastham, MA on Cape Cod, close to where her family had often vacationed as a child. They spent summers there after they both retired in 2017 and Eastham became the family gathering place for summer vacations. In July, 2025, Mary and Bob celebrated their 50th anniversary with a family gathering at the Basin Harbor resort in Vergennes, VT. 

Mary will be remembered for her kindness, generous spirit, and deep love of family and friends. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her children Nicholas Donin and wife Lauren Leeds of Los Angeles and their sons Samuel and Nathaniel; Peter Donin and wife Shelly Zander Donin of Oshkosh, WI and their daughter Poppy; and Margaret Donin (“Maggie”) and husband John Smith of Burlington, VT and their sons Zenon and Ralph. She is also survived by her brother Frederick Stelle and wife Bettina Keller of Sag Harbor, NY; brother William Stelle and wife Claudia Widgery of Whidbey Island, WA; brother-in-law Jeffrey Donin and wife Hatsuko Otsuka of Rye, NY; and by many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. She was predeceased by her father William, mother Mary, and brother Edward. 

A celebration of Mary’s life is being planned for the spring. The family encourages donations in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association and the Howe Library.