Born 10/24/1933
Manchester, New Hampshire
Died 5/14/2023
Palm City, Florida
Details of services
Memorial Service will be held October 28, 2023 at 11 AM at the First Universalist Parish in the Old Stone Village, Chester, VT. Memorial donations may be made to Whiting Library, Chester, VT.
Dr. David Alan Lord, 89, formerly of Chester, VT died at his home in Harbour Ridge, Palm City, Florida on May 14. Dr. Lord earned a BA degree in psychology from the Univ. of New Hampshire and MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology at the Univ. of Tennessee. He was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at the Austin Riggs Center, Stockbridge, MA and later earned a Certificate in Psychoanalysis at the William Alanson White Institute in New York city. He successfully completed the work and examinations required for a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology from the American Board of Profession Psychology.
Dr. Lord’s lengthy and wide-ranging professional career began as a Supervising Staff Psychologist at South Carolina State Hospital. From there he spent two years as Chief Psychologist for the Bureau of Mental Health, US Virgin Islands, providing care for residents on 3 islands. He later became Associate Director of the Counseling Service and Lecturer in Human Development at Columbia College in the University, NYC. He later established a private practice of psychoanalysis, group and individual psychotherapy and marital therapy in NYC and Greenwich, Conn. During this time, Dr. Lord was also an Attending Psychologist at Payne Whitney Clinic, NYC and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, NYC where he supervised in- and out-patient psychotherapy.
In 1998 Dr. Lord and his wife, Kathy Pellett moved to Vermont where he planned to retire. Instead, as soon as he got his Vermont driver’s license, he also got his license to practice psychology and established a private practice in Chester. In 2005, he began a 10-year association with the VA Medical Center in White River Junction as a staff psychologist. Because of his experience and expertise, he was often asked to work with patients who presented the most challenges. He helped start a psychotherapy group for men who had been sexually assaulted. In addition, he helped teach the next generation of psychologists though his appointment to the faculty of the Dartmouth Medical School internship program.
Dr. Lord balanced his rigorous work life with his passion for sailing and the sea. He was a licensed US Coast Guard captain and a skilled navigator. He was also a sailing instructor at the Old Greenwich Yacht Club in Conn. He also found time for another passion — fishing and camping. Chief among his favorite places was Green River Reservoir in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom where he relished both the primitive camping conditions and the lack of access to cell phones. He was active in his Chester community, where he served on the Board of the First Universalist Church; the Whiting Library Board of Trustees; and served on the Ethics Committee of the Vermont Psychological Association.
Dr. Lord was born in Manchester, New Hampshire on October 24, 1933, a son of Frederick J. Lord, Sr. and Gladys Graves Lord who predeceased him, as did two brothers, Lt. Col. Frederick J. Lord, Jr. and Peter J. Lord. Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Kathy Pellett; his daughter from a previous marriage, Alison Lord of Portland, OR; a brother Gary Lord of Brookfield, VT; a sister, Susan Gardner of Punta Gorda, FL. and many other relatives all whom adored him.