Donald Phillip Schlick

Donald is survived by his loving wife of 47 years, Lynn Marie Schlick; children, Doniece Lynn Schlick Dorton (Raymond "Butch"), Susan Rene Schlick Lee (Allen), and Donald Phillip Schlick, Jr.; grandchildren, Ashley Payne Simpson, Jessica Lee Norton, Christopher Lee and Heather Schlick Falls; and great-grandchildren, Madison Simpson, Parker Simpson, Oliver Norton, and William Falls.

Donald Phillip Schlick earned a B.S. in Mining Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and two Master degrees, Administration from George Washington University; and Resource Management from the National War College, National Defense University. He also completed the doctoral work in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, in Washington, D.C.

His career spanned both government and industry as well as serving in the United States Army Engineers. He held management positions at Raytheon Services Nevada Test Site and Pacific Operations as the Manager of Environment, Safety, Health, Security & Quality Assurance. At the U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Test Site, he served as the Chief of Facilities & Occupational Safety. In private industry he served as the Executive Vice President of Operations and Engineering for Island Creek Corporation in Lexington, KY, and Jim Walter Resources in Tuscaloosa, AL. In Washington, D.C., he served as the Administrator of the U.S. Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration. Prior to that he was the Deputy Director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Prior to that he served for 10 years in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan with the U.S. Agency for International Development as the Senior Mining Consultant in Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. After college graduation, he worked in the coal mines, working his way up from a rank and file laborer to Section Foreman, Division Industrial Engineer, Production Foreman, Shift Foreman, and Assistant to the President. He was a Registered Professional Engineer and earned a First Class Mine Foreman Certificate in West Virginia.

Throughout his professional and personal life, he was honored for his dedication, expertise, and service. His recognitions included the Distinguished Graduate Award from the National War College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces; the U.S. Department of State’s Superior Honor Award, and both the Meritorious Service Award and the Valor Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior—the latter presented for saving the lives of three miners in Pakistan. He also served as President of the Holmes Safety Association and was a member of the Executive Board of the National Safety Council. In 2019, he was inducted into the Alabama Senior Citizen Hall of Fame - Religion Award.

A prolific writer, Don authored more than forty publications on mining related subjects and wrote the book entitled Modern Oriental Carpets: A Buyer’s Guide. His wide-ranging interests included indexing historical FamilySearch documents, glider piloting, gemology through the British Gemological Society, and collecting Oriental carpets.

Since his Baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on September 7, 1989, Don served twice as a Las Vegas Ward Mission Leader, 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric of the Las Vegas Nevada Stake Singles Ward, Ordinance Worker and Shift Supervisor in the Las Vegas and Birmingham Temples. He served two missions in the Las Vegas Nevada Employment Center, and was the Director of the Birmingham Alabama Stake Employment Center. Don was also a Ward Gospel Doctrine Teacher and an Elders Quorum Teacher.

A visitation For Donald will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 2015 3rd Ave N, Tuscaloosa, AL 35406, on Monday, January 12, 2026, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. A Celebration of Life service will follow at 10:30 am. Burial will take place at Forest Hill Cemetery, 431 60th Street N., Birmingham, AL 35212

Pallbearers are Donald P. Schlick, Jr., Raymond C. Dorton, Allen Lee, Doug Simpson, Isacc Falls, Ryan R. Souther, Michael Schmid, Matthew R. Souther, Benjamin R. Souther, Darrell Lynch, Michael Middleton and Nathan Culmer. Serving as an Honorary pallbearer will be Parker Simpson.