Donald P. McPherson III ’63

Don died Nov. 20, 2022, at home in Baltimore with his wife, Ann Teaff, by his side. 

A longtime partner at DLA Piper in Baltimore, Don volunteered thousands of hours representing indigent clients. 

Don came to Princeton from Gilman School in Baltimore, where he was on the basketball and track teams and a member of the Christian Association and the political club. At Princeton, he was on the swimming and track teams and a member of Charter Club. He majored in philosophy and his thesis on “Verification of Counterfactual Statements” won the Dickinson Prize. His roommates included Callard, Constable, Dent, Duff, Gewin, Gilbert, Greenleaf, Markell, and Newsome.

Don earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1966 and joined Piper and Marbury, now known as DLA Piper. He headed the real-estate practice group for 14 years and, for 28 years, he headed or served on committees for the firm’s pro bono practice. In 1997, he received the Arthur W. Machen Jr. Award from the Maryland Legal Services Corp., the highest award in Maryland for pro bono legal work.

On retiring in 2009, Don joined Just Advice, a project of the University of Maryland School of Law that offers free legal advice to those who can’t afford an attorney. He helped nearly 1,000 individuals and was working on a legal document for one of his clients the evening before he died.

Don was a committed, superior athlete who swam, ran, or walked every morning. He and Ann traveled extensively, and their destinations invariably included bicycling or hiking. 

Don is survived by his wife of 26 years, Ann; his daughter, Cynthia; three grandchildren; and brother Edward. His son, David, died in 2016.