Dr. John Donald Hare, a microbiologist and longtime summer resident of the Vineyard, died April 3 after a long bout of myelodysplastic syndrome.

He grew up in a small town in upstate New York, the son of a general practitioner. He attended DeVeaux School in Niagara Falls for high school, and afterwards started at the U.S. Naval Academy. When told that his eyesight would likely keep him from sea duty, he moved to Harvard, where he graduated in 1950 summa cum laude. Following Harvard, he attended the University of Rochester Medical School and graduated in 1955 with a master’s degree in microbiology and an M.D.

After finishing his internship and residency at Boston City Hospital on the Harvard Service and two years of research at the National Institutes of Health, he returned to Rochester and joined the faculty of University of Rochester Medical School in 1961. He spent several years working with infectious diseases and then turned to research and teaching in microbiology.

While at the University of Rochester, he also served as dean of admissions for the medical school for 15 years.

Don’s passions after his family were skiing and the Vineyard. After retirement in 1988, he joined the National Ski Patrol, primarily at the Hunt Hollow Ski Club in Naples, N.Y., and remained active until 1998. Don, Nancy, and their children started coming to the Vineyard in 1962 and they stayed at what was then the Totem Pole Inn on State Road in Aquinnah. In 1974, the family purchased a home on Lighthouse Road. Summer vacations were spent enjoying friends, fishing, clamming and beachcombing. After retirement, Don and Nancy spent five to six months a year in Aquinnah. The additional time on the Vineyard allowed for other activities, including volunteer work at the Aquinnah Public Library. He and Carl Whitman also spent many hours pursuing lobsters; although they might not have had a good haul, they always had a good time.

Don will always be a part of the Vineyard, resting in the Aquinnah cemetery overlooking Vineyard Sound.