Donald L Mills

Donald was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Feb. 22, 1925, the 11th of 13 children. His father drove a New York City taxi; his mother was a homemaker. Don was always proud to say he had six brothers and six sisters. They all predeceased him.

At age 4, he moved to Jamaica, Queens, to live with his father’s sister Cora and her husband, Lawrence, to help unburden his mother, who was in poor health. She died a year later and his father agreed that Donald should remain with his aunt and her husband. Cora later had a son, Larry Stricker, with whom Don was raised as a brother.

Don graduated from Jamaica High School at 17 and began his studies at Queens College. When World War II broke out, he tried to enlist but was refused as too young. When he turned 18, he enlisted in the Army. He served in the Pacific with the Combat Engineers – based in Hawaii – and was discharged March 10, 1946, with the rank of staff sergeant.

Don returned to New York to Queens College, graduating in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in art. A fraternity brother set him up on a blind date with Genevieve Rizzo, who was a nursing student at Adelphi College in Garden City, N.Y. They were married Dec. 26, 1949, in Genevieve’s hometown of Clinton, N.Y. The couple moved to Long Island, N.Y., where they raised three children.

Don held a series of jobs in those early days, ranging from groundskeeper on a golf course to driving a diaper truck to managing a restaurant. Ultimately, he moved into education, working as an art teacher and eventually transitioning into administration. He earned a master’s degree in secondary school education Hofstra University. He served as an assistant principal at Amityville Junior High School and Levittown Memorial High School before becoming principal of Copiague High School in 1970, a position he held for 10 years. He retired from education when he was 55.

Sailing was his longtime passion, beginning with a boat he built in his driveway in Hempstead, N.Y., with the help of several of his brothers. He later bought several “ready-made” sailboats, graduating to a 35- foot Pearson yawl, the Sea Plus, that he and Genevieve owned for many years. When they were ready to retire to Marco Island, the pair sailed the Sea Plus from New York to Florida along the Intracoastal Waterway. Once settled on Marco – in a home Don designed – he and Genevieve sailed the Sea Plus on many excursions, including to the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and New Orleans.

A gregarious person who enjoyed belonging to and leading clubs and organizations, Don served as commodore of the Long Island Yacht Club, commodore Sailing Association of Marco Island, and as the first commodore of the Marco Island Yacht Club. In addition, he served as vice president of the Art League of Marco Island, president of the Sunrise Rotary and commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Marco.

Retiring from his educational career was not the end of work for Don. He became the manager of Marco Yachts soon after settling on the island and later obtained his real estate license. He worked for Deltona’s Marco Island Realty and Coldwell Banker, and later became managing partner of the Sun Trust Bank Building on Marco.

Don and Gen were married for 60 years. Her death in 2010 was devastating to him. But being an upbeat and resilient person, he had what he called “an encore relationship” with Doreen Hertel, also of Marco Island. Her husband, Walter, had died the year before Genevieve. Her energy and effervescence kept him active and the pair were known around Marco for their prowess on the dance floor and their fondness for dressing up.

In addition to Hertel and Larry Stricker, Don is survived by his son Steven and his wife, Marianne, of Bronxville, N.Y.; daughter Kim, of Alexandria, Virginia; son Donald, of Chelsea, Mass; and two grandsons, John, of Healdsburg, Calif., and Thomas, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Family and friends are invited to a celebration of Don’s life on what would have been his 100th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Hodges-Josberger Funeral Home, 577 Elkcam Circle, Marco Island, Fla.