Donald L. McMasters, 80, died September 28 in Bloomington, IN.
Born on July 14, 1931 in Crawfordsville, he was the son of Omar ’26 and Evelyn McMasters. He was raised in Newport, IN, where he attended the Methodist church and graduated from Vermillion County High School as valedictorian in 1949.
McMasters was a chemistry major and a member of Kappa Sigma while attending Wabash. He earned his M.S. degree from the University of North Dakota in 1955, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1959. He received a variety of graduate and research assistantships, including a DuPont Teaching Fellowship in 1957. He taught at Beliot College, WI as assistant professor; as a lecturer at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne; and for 31 years
at Indiana University with both the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Environmental Health and Safety (1975–1995).
He retired from Indiana University in 1995.
McMasters was a member of the American Chemical Society, Sigma Xi, and Indiana Acad-emy of Science. He wrote numerous publications and experiments for college courses, and the Edward L. Haenisch Library Fund of the Wabash Chemistry Department now receives the royalties.
When he retired from Indiana University, McMasters pursued his passion for travel, volunteerism, and art collecting, donating more than 200 pieces of art to Wabash College while doubling the size of the Permanent Collection. He served as president of the boards of directors of several community arts groups.
McMasters served as chair of the design committees that created the John Waldron Arts Center and restored the Buskirk-Chumley Indiana Theatre in Bloomington to legitimate art and theatre spaces for community and professional performing artists. He also served on the board of the Indiana University Theatre Circle and Indiana University Friends of Art.
McMasters was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Shirley Ann McMasters.
He is survived by his domestic partner of 35 years, Randall Garratt, of Bloomington; two brothers, Robert D. McMasters of Tucson, AZ and Omar Dale McMasters of Ames, IA.
A Remembrance
A cardigan sweater, plaid shirt, and slippers—unassuming, comfortable, casual, and at ease with himself—that was the Don McMasters that I met in 1985. He had already retired as a professor and was teaching in the Department
of Environmental Health at Indiana University. For me, Don was a living example of an exceptionally trained mind and an ambassador
for a liberal arts education. He loved to learn and loved to share what he knew.
The day we met, I had driven down to Bloomington with Professor Greg Huebner to pick out artwork from his collection for
the Wabash College Permanent Collection of Contemporary Art. I didn’t fully realize how entering Don’s world—where art met science, where public safety led to historical preservation, where stories came alive, and where generosity never ended—would have such a profound effect on me and the Art Department at Wabash. He was preparing to donate scores of original artworks to Wabash, as he would do multiple times during the next 25 years. His quiet, smallish house on a typical Midwestern street was jammed full of art, every inch of wall space taken up by paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs; every horizontal surface filled with works of sculpture and ceramics.
As we gleefully entered, Don said, “Welcome to art overload.” We found room to eat lunch, chat, admire the collection, and then chatted some more. Don’s stories were mesmerizing. Each piece of art represented a piece of his life. Don’s passion for collecting was visceral. His tales made the artwork come alive.
Don brought us into a closet where art hung next to belts and ties; he showed us the basement where art was stacked twelve deep, a Picasso etching in the bathroom, and master printmaker Rudy Pozzatti showcased in every room of the house. Dali and Maki hung next to tapestries, diplomas, and scientific awards, all complete with the collector’s stories, why he liked and collected each work. His right brain and left brain were in perfect balance. In fact, there existed a synergy that built on the connections he made between science, public health, art, and architecture.
Don never forgot his alma mater and single-handedly doubled the size of the Wabash College Permanent Collection of Contemporary Art. Don and his partner, Randy Garratt, made frequent trips to campus, sometimes bringing new gifts for the collection, but other times simply wanting to reconnect with chemistry colleagues and art faculty. We would visit and share stories about the place Wabash had become.
We have a huge part of Don McMasters in our art collection. Beside the artists that are familiar to us all, we have the very first piece Don collected at age 14, and we have one of the largest collections in the country of prints by Pozzatti—one of Don’s personal favorites. So Don lives on in our Permanent Collection, and the College is better for it. Even in Don’s absence, the Art Department will be making periodic trips to Bloomington to visit his collection. I will deeply miss his stories
and the signature cardigan.
—Doug Calisch, Professor of Art