Donn Fendler

At a glance

Born 1926-08-29; died 2016-10-09.

Who they were

Biography Donn Fendler was born on August 29, 1926, in Rye, New York . On July 17, 1939, 12-year-old Fendler was separated from his family during a storm near the summit of Maine 's Mount Katahdin . [ 1 ] His disappearance led to hundreds of volunteers conducting a search party to find him throughout Baxter State Park . [ 2 ] Fendler survived for nine days without proper food or clothing before following a stream and telephone line out of the woods near Stacyville, Maine . [ 3 ]

Personal life and death In 1953, Fendler married to Maryrose Connolly; the couple had four children. [ 1 ] Fendler died on October 10, 2016, in Bangor, Maine at the age of 90. [ 2 ] At the time of his death, he had been living in Clarksville, Tennessee but spending his summers in Newport, Maine . Each autumn, he visited schools in Maine to tell his story and answer children's questions about his experience on the mountain. [ 3 ] On July 25, 2014,

Donn Charles Fendler was an American author and public speaker. Born in Rye, New York, Fendler, at the age of 12, became separated from his family and was lost on Maine's Mount Katahdin in July 1939. His disappearance launched a search party, which became headline news throughout the United States. Donn survived for nine days without food or proper clothing, before following a stream and telephone line out of the woods near Stacyville, Maine. Fendler was dehydrated, covered with insect bites,

Why this date

Donn Fendler appears on our October 10 calendar for 2016 as a death entry.