Donald Blair

Don Blair, 91, died Monday, November 21, 2011, at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Immediate arrangements are administered by Porter Loring North Mortuary of San Antonio. A burial of ashes will take place at the Greenlawn Cemetery in Afton, Iowa, followed by a memorial reception at a date to be determined in early 2012. Online condolences may be made under the obituaries category at www.porterloring.com. Donald Gentry Blair was born September 1, 1920, in Afton, Iowa, the third of four children born to Mabel B. (Shoemaker) Blair and Grover Gentry Blair. Don graduated from Afton High School in 1938, and subsequently worked in Los Angeles, California, at Lockheed Aircraft on P-38 production. He returned to Iowa to enlist, serving from 1942 to late 1945 as a member of the Engineers and later in the Army Air Corps as a radio operator based in England. His crew flew 17 missions in B17s over Germany. As part of his responsibilities, Don also took extensive photography of air strike operations during combat missions; his albums remain. When the war ended, he was stationed for a short time in Southern France. He was a proud veteran of the Eighth Air Force all of his life. Upon his return to Iowa, Don married Betty Ann Bruce, also of Afton, in January, 1946, and opened a hardware business in Afton. He remained in the hardware business until retiring in 1987; during most of his career, he was a sales representative to independent hardware stores for several large, wholesale hardware supply companies, including Shapleigh, Witte, and Van Camp, where he was once awarded Salesman of the Year. Don helped many independent hardware owners lay out and start up their stores in his Midwest territories. After five years in Afton, Don and Betty lived in Glendale, California; Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin; Monticello, Illinois; and Kankakee, Illinois, while raising five children. In 1994, they retired to San Antonio, Texas. Don instilled in his children a commitment to higher education, a reverence for honesty, and a love of travel. Influenced by his service time in France, Don became an ardent Francophile. He studied French history, culture and language, and inspired two daughters to study abroad in France. With his family, he traveled to France several times, and hosted a French exchange student in their home. He and Betty also enjoyed dancing to big bands until his retirement years. Don was preceded in death by his parents and two siblings: a brother, Harold Blair, killed in action in Italy during WWII in 1943, and a sister, Dorothy (Blair) Roeder, also of Afton, deceased earlier this year. Survivors include: a sister, Nina (Blair) Sullivan of Jacksonville, Alabama; his wife of 65 years, Betty; his children Kathy (Blair) Donzis (husband Lewis) of San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Bruce G. Blair (wife Sally) of Washington D.C., Stephen Blair of San Antonio, Dr. Jill (Blair) Firszt (husband Steve) of St. Louis, Missouri, and Jann (Blair) Jarvis of Minneapolis, Minnesota; 12 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.