Donald Wayne Giller

Donald Wayne Giller died on May 27, 2026, just nine days before his 93rd birthday. He spent most of his life in Dallas, where at the age of 14 he met his future wife Benita, cherishing and loving her for the next 78 years. In 1960 he earned a PhD in psychology, making him one of the first clinical PhD psychologists in Texas. He subsequently built a successful clinical practice, and played pivotal roles in the modernization of Terrell State Mental Hospital, the beginnings of community mental health programs in Dallas, and the evolution of mental health services at Southern Methodist University. He also served for a time as a clinical supervisor for the doctoral program in psychology at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

He was known for his engaging sense of humor, and his interests were eclectic. He was widely traveled, with notable visits with Benita to the Galapagos Islands and Africa; he developed real expertise in bird watching; and he held an inexplicable love for hootenannies and for playing both the accordion and the ukulele. The Dallas Museum of Natural History once allowed him to observe its visitors as they viewed the museum exhibits, and to write the captions of many of the museum’s dioramas based on those observations.

He held lifelong attachments and relationships with his children, cousins and relatives of the large Giller family in Dallas, forming many treasured bonds and helping to organize yearly reunions. He is survived by his wife Benita Giller; his sons Cole (Angela) and Dean Giller of Santa Fe, NM; his grandchildren Amelia (Julian), Claire (Matt), Charlie (Corissa) and Megan (Marcus); and his great-grandchildren Cameron, Rhodes, Caden, Paloma, and Mason. He was loved by many and he will be missed.