Donald "Don" Leo Zimmer

Don made every place his home. He was a man of the garage, of the campsite, of the backyard. He cherished old stuff and saved every nail, screw, and half-empty paint can from being sent to the trash can. Don kept his things arranged in an organized chaos, to the dismay and delight of his wife, Khariati “Ann” Amin, and kids, Khamillah and Kaliph, who’ve been searching unsuccessfully for an air mattress in his absence and have found twenty-year-old Father’s Day cards instead.

He loved gardening, and throughout his life he attempted to grow everything that the desert climate and later the high-altitude plains would allow. Don had tomato plants, whose unlucky tomato worms were plucked off one by one to be flung over the fence. He had huge pampas grasses that he’d prune and piles of weeds that he would set fire to periodically, scaring Ann and the neighbors. He also gathered rocks; during his thirty-something years living in the High Desert, Don rarely passed up an attractive boulder, often pulling off the side of the road to collect sizable, good-looking rocks curated for his rock gardens.

As children, Khami and Kaliph remember wrestling with their dad in the living room, waiting for him to “reset” before they launched themselves at him again, attacking ruthlessly until he employed his secret weapon Busy Buzzbee, a single finger that would tickle them without mercy. He made them anything they wanted: a real fort in the backyard, constructed from wood pallets and camouflage netting, hand-painted clouds to cover Khami's bedroom walls, and a quarter pipe for Kaliph to catch air on his BMX bike.

A California beach bum at heart, Don was born in Lynwood, CA on July 26, 1960 to the late Joan and Leo Zimmer. He grew up in Anaheim with his older brother Dave, and he was part of the Rome Street gang of neighborhood friends who spent summer days surfing at Huntington Beach and fixing up old Volkswagens. Throughout his life he always had a hobby vehicle to work on. At one point there was a dune buggy, which he drove through the desert with his kids in the back, then an orange Lazy Daze RV that he outfitted with all-orange everything inside, and later on a flame-red Jeep, which he took rock crawling on trails throughout California. Don’s passion for Jeep-ing and making systems more efficient eventually carried him into his role as president of the Victor Valley 4 Wheelers club.

For thirty years Mr. Z taught English literature at Silver Valley Unified School District. His students knew him for his high expectations and long-winded stories, which he told with slight embellishments year after year. After his retirement Don provided mentorship to young teachers early in their careers; we hope they gathered a few useful Zimmer-isms from his likely uninterruptible lectures.

Don passed away unexpectedly, asleep in his home at Colorado Springs on Thursday, April 6, 2023. He was 62 years old. Shortly before his passing, he started four trays of seedlings–butterfly pea, American giant sunflower, red okra, asparagus, and so on–that we will plant in a greenhouse made in his honor. We named it Don's Horticultural Home.

Our dad took care of us by taking care of everything around us. We miss him deeply and we’ll think of him always, but especially when we enjoy life’s simple pleasures. When we go for a dip in June Lake and it’s hot outside but the water’s still crisp and “refreshing,” when we scoop ourselves a big bowl of ice cream and call it “magic,” when we start a story by saying, “You probably don’t want to hear this,” but then tell it anyway…that’s Don.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Victor Valley 4 Wheelers, which will then be sent directly to the Victor Valley College Foundation in Don’s memory.

Zelle email address: [email protected]

Non-profit Tax ID: 33-0348044

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MtViewMortuary.com for the Zimmer family.