Donald Parkinson of Tucson, AZ, age 85, passed away on March 11 at home from respiratory failure, surrounded by his loved ones. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Patricia, his children, Don (Kim), Cindy, Bill, and Jim (Kelly), seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
Don was born In Brooklyn, NY, and grew up in nearby Valley Stream, graduated from Valley Stream Central High School and earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Don and Pat were married in 1955, after which Don began serving our country as an aviator in the U.S. Navy. A job with Boeing caused Don and his family to switch coasts and they moved to Seattle in 1959, where he went back to college at the University of Washington and earned an Electrical Engineering degree. Now in the U.S. Navy Reserves, he continued to fly until 1968.
Anticipating the Boeing layoffs of the late 1960s, Don switched careers and went to work for IBM as a software engineer and continued in this field until his retirement. The family moved to Portland, OR in 1973 and after retirement, Don and Pat moved to Tucson in 1997.
Don was a lifelong Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers fan and an avid bowler. He was devoted to his wife and family and enjoyed traveling around the country and the world. He loved a stimulating debate, Klondike bars, the Glenn Miller Band, taking his dog for a walk, a good book, evening gin-and-tonics, going to the movies, Frank Sinatra, and chocolate-covered cherries at Christmas.
Donations in lieu of flowers may be made in his memory to the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, 1000 Vin Scully Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
