He was born on January 20, 1924 in Sioux City, Iowa. His parents were James Estes and Ethel Estes who decided that James Donald would be called 'Don'. Preceding him in death were his parents, two older sisters, Helen and Eileen, and his younger brother, Glenn.
After the Estes family moved to the Village of Cool Valley in north St. Louis, Missouri. Don attended Ferguson High School, graduating in 1941. He was an excellent athlete on the Ferguson basketball and baseball teams. He also played on an American Legion baseball team where one of his teammates was Yogi Berra. In high school, Don was 'the toughest guy at Ferguson' as deemed by the school principal.
Shortly after World War II began, Don joined the US Army and travelled to Europe with other soldiers on the Queen Mary. During the war, he fought in the Battle of The Bulge and was one of the liberators of the Dachau concentration camp. After peace was declared, he served with the military police in Munich, Germany.
After returning to the family home on Emerling Drive in Cool Valley, Don met Louise Sherman who lived with her family on the same street. They married in 1946. Louise accompanied Don to the University of Missouri where he graduated with a degree in Political Science. They subsequently had three sons and lived in the St. Louis area until moving to Kansas City, Missouri in 1957. Until his retirement, Don worked for the Federal Aviation Agency in Kansas City.
Don is survived by his wife, Louise and sons, Steven (wife, Jeanne), Michael (wife, May), and Kevin. Also surviving are three grandchildren, Susan Estes (husband, Michael Crosby), Ben Chen, and Emily Estes.
Don Estes was a bowler, a pool shooter, a prodigious reader, and a writer of dirty poetry. He was a regular guy and well liked by all who knew him.
