Dear Unity College,

It is with a heavy heart that I share the unfortunate news of Dot Quimby’s passing. It is truly surreal, she was a Unity College institution – one of the first employees of the College and even after she retired in 2001, she remained a fixture at campus events up until recently.  She was beloved by us all, but she had a special bond with our alums, and I know you will miss her dearly. 

I had the pleasure of meeting Dot not long after my arrival in Unity and I found her historical knowledge and passion for the success of the College inspiring.  As a founding member of America’s Environmental College, she knew how important the mission of the College was and she provided me some valuable insight as I began my career here. 

Dot moved to Unity in 1956 and was studying for her master’s degree in library science at the University of Maine when Bert Clifford approached her to be the librarian at the new school he was starting.  Her first task was to build-out the library in Koons Hall from an empty room with books in the middle of the floor to a fully functioning library with a charge desk and catalog. 

When it was time for the library to move to a more permanent home, she organized and led the “book brigade” passing the books person by person from Koons Hall to the current library.  She petitioned the State of Maine to make the Unity College library open to the public, which in turn made Unity College eligible for the state aid needed to build what is now the central road on the 90 Quaker Hill Road campus, the Loop Road. 

She was a dedicated mother of two boys, grandmother and volunteer.  She served as Treasurer for the Town of Unity, a Trustee of Unity Church and was a member of Future MSAD3 – the committee that helped design and fund the regional high school – Mount View. 

Dot’s legacy lives on here at Unity College through the library that bears her name and all the other projects she helped to facilitate as the College evolved during its first four decades.  As we mourn her loss, we can take comfort in knowing that she will join us in spirit at all our events.  We will always think of her as we continue to provide our students the library resources they need to be successful Unity College graduates.

Goodbye Dot, we will miss you.  You and your legacy will forever be a part of Unity College.

The family is planning to place her obituary in the Portland Press Herald, the Waterville Morning Sentinel, and the Belfast Republican Journal this week.

In Unity, 
Melik Peter Khoury, 
President