Rev. Donald C. Latham

December 24, 1933 - March 5, 2016

Saratoga Springs, NY - Donald Conway Latham, the retired Rector of Church of the Ascension, Rockville Centre, NY, died peacefully Saturday at Saratoga Hospital in Saratoga Springs, NY. He was 82 years old and lived in Malta, NY. Father Latham, who grew up in Mineola, NY, was ordained into the priesthood in 1958 and became the Vicar of All Souls Church in Stony Brook, NY from 1958 to 1966. He then went on to become a military chaplain in the Navy during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1967. For the next 5 years he was the Assistant to the late Bishop Jonathan Sherman for the Diocese of Long Island. From 1972 to his retirement in 1994, Father Latham was the beloved Rector of Church of the Ascension in Rockville Centre, NY. Among his accomplishments, Father Latham was also the Archdeacon of Nassau County for the Diocese of Long Island from 1979 to 1984 and Chaplain of the Nassau County Police Department from 1991 to 1994. In his post retirement career, Father Latham was the Vicar of All Saints Church in Round Lake, NY. Father Latham was a graduate of Hobart and William Smith and received his MDiv at the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale in 1958. He also earned a MSS in Social Work from Adelphi in 1961. In his personal life, Father Latham was a dog enthusiast. He was highly involved in the showing, handling, and judging of dogs in shows throughout the northeast and Canada. He and his wife Peggy owned Great Danes, Dobermans, and Dachshunds and he was the treasurer of the Glens Falls Kennel Club in Glens Falls, NY. He was a patron of the arts and enjoyed going to the theater, ballet, and opera with his family. Father Latham will best be remembered by his great leadership and administrative abilities, his demand for perfection, his booming singing voice and his sense of humor. He had a “larger than life” personality and was truly a “father” to many by the integral part he played in his parishioners’ lives. Father Latham is survived by his loving wife Peggy of 56 years; his daughter Victoria Starr (James Shutts) and his three grandchildren, Joshua, Alexa and Jacqueline Starr of Malta, NY. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to The American Heart Association, P.O. Box 417005, Boston, MA. 02241. Calling hours will be held at the Tunison Funeral Home, 105 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 on Friday, March 11 from 4:00pm-8:00pm. A funeral service will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church, 5 Simpson Ave, Round Lake, NY 12151, at 10:00am on Saturday, March 12. A memorial service will be held at the Church of the Ascension in Rockville Centre, NY at a later date. Funeral Arrangements are entrusted to the Tunison Funeral Home. Online remembrances may be made at www.tunisonfuneralhome.com.