David Cadbury

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DAVID F. CADBURY

David Frederick Cadbury, 72, died on Friday, February 2, 2018.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 3, 1945, and was the son of Joseph M. and Lucille S. Cadbury (both deceased) of Philadelphia and Waldoboro, Maine. After graduating from Germantown Friends School, he attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut for undergraduate school, and Maryland Institute of Art/ Peabody Institute in Baltimore, where he received a second undergraduate degree and a Masters in sculpture. He also did post-graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania in landscape architecture.

In the early-1980s, David lived in Philadelphia and Maine. He worked as a sculptor, producing conceptional installations about natural and environmental systems. During these years, he served as the Chairman of the Nexus Gallery in Philadelphia, and had his work exhibited by Max Protetch and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He also established two construction businesses, one that conducted curatorial work and historical restorations for eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses and a second that directed high-end residential and commercial projects. In 1992, David and his family moved to Maine, where he continued working as an artist, and as a building consultant on large-scale commercial construction projects. In his artwork, he began an exploration of computer-generated images, which were exhibited at the Penobscot Marine Museum and in other galleries in Maine.

David held a life-long concern for the environment. He was the founder of Friends of Maine Coastal Islands NWR (formerly Maine Seabird Islands), an effort, in conjunctions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to protect seabird habitat on Maine’s islands. Recently, he also operated a nautical and antique business, from a site in Rockland, Maine.

He was an exceptional sailor and, over the course of his life, he assisted with the building of a schooner and restored numerous wooden sailboats. He sailed the Maine coast from Bar Harbor to Tenants Harbor, and in New Jersey and other eastern ports.

While in Philadelphia, he was active with Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (Quakers), and served on the boards of Friends Select School and Stapley Hall, a retirement community. In Maine, he was an active member of Midcoast Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) in Damariscotta, Maine, where he served as the clerk of the meeting for a number of years.

He and his wife, Karen L. Cadbury, were devoted to each other, and were married for 49 years. David is survived by his wife, Karen; his son, Benjamin Cadbury, his wife Sarah Cadbury and their children, Samuel Cadbury and Sophia Cadbury; and by his daughter, Rachel Cadbury Gagnon, her husband, Chad Gagnon, and their children, Corrin Gagnon and Arden Gagnon. He is also survived by his brother Joel Cadbury and his wife Bonnie from Marathon, Florida, and their daughters, and by many dear relatives and good friends.

A memorial service in Maine to commemorate his life will be announced in the early summer. A private interment will be held in Philadelphia at Southwest Burial Ground sometime following the memorial at the convenience of the family. 

If desired, memorial gifts may be made in memory of David F. Cadbury to: Friends of Maine Coastal Islands NWR, P.O. Box 1231, Rockland, Maine 04841 or to the Midcoast Monthly Meeting of Friends, P.O. Box 714, 77 Belvedere Road, Damariscotta, Maine 04543.