RISING SUN, Md. — The founder of Plumpton Park Zoo, Edward C. Plumstead, has died.
According to a Facebook post on the Zoo's page, Plumstead began sharing his love of animals back in 1966, when he brought two white European fallow deer to his property.
The animals became popular over the years, and he ended up opening the Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun in 1986.
He chose the name of the zoo based on an old English poem about lords and ladies wandering with fallow deer in Plumpton Park.
The zoo ended up taking in exotic animals whose owners couldn't care for them.
Plumstead made the decision to close the zoo in August of 2010 because of his declining health.
Later that month, he found a new group that fixed up and reopened the zoo.
He did what he could for the zoo after that -- he even took part in weed whacking at the age of 83.
Plumstead's family has asked for donations to the zoo instead of flowers in his memory.
