"He was mindful of the need to change with the times," said the university's president, Kevin J. Manning. "I'd like to remember Donald as a positive, cordial, happy person who energetically worked in his office until two weeks ago."
During the school's 2001 commencement exercises, Mr. Ratcliffe was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters.
"He has unfailingly been the friend in need, the droll diffuser of crises real or imagined, the strong presence during every major decision, and the delightfully uncommon man of good sense and good character," noted a program distributed during the President's Dinner in 2002, acknowledging his years of service to the school..
Family and friends subsequently established an endowment scholarship that bears his name, the Ratcliffe Scholars.
He was a founding member of the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association and served on the Maryland State Board of Architects. He was a past board member of the Eastmet Corp. and First Virginia Bank.
A Mass of Christian burial will be said at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, 5200 N Charles St., where he was a member.
In addition to his son, survivors include his wife of 55 years, the former Joan Fallon; five daughters, Kate Ratcliffe Hoch and Anne Hawkins, both of Ruxton, Tricia Davis of Woodbrook, Nancy Ferrell of Towson and Sally Ratcliffe of Lutherville; and 11 grandchildren.
