Donald Pifer Jr.

Donald Pifer Jr., 76, of Westerville passed away on October 4, 2026, surrounded by his “girls”, wife Diana, and daughter, Lauren. He was born on May 14, 1950, in Grafton WV, to the late Donald Pifer Sr. and Clarabelle Krietemeyer.

Known as “Donnie” to his close family, Don grew up in Shelby, Ohio and graduated Shelby High School in 1968. He attended Tiffin University before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1971. He was based in Thailand during the Vietnam War as a refueling specialist. He was later stationed at Lockbourne AFB and discharged in 1974. He then moved to Columbus where he would eventually meet and marry the love of his life, Diana, wife of 43 years. His beautiful daughter Lauren, gifted him with two wonderful grandchildren, Ruby and Milo, who he was affectionately known to as “Grampy”.

Don was a great provider and one of the most hardworking people you could have ever known. He was never sick, never called off, or never late. This could easily be attested by those that knew him. Having spent many years working in the construction trade, he embarked on a new career at the age of 60 as a semi-truck driver for the US Postal Service. He spent 22 years living in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina before moving back to Columbus in 2021. His “retirement” job at the age of 71 was as a proud Usher for the Ohio State Buckeyes during the football season. He also worked as event staff for any and all things scheduled for Schottenstein Center or the Ohio Stadium. As an avid and longtime OSU football fan, he enjoyed every minute doing this. He also followed the Cleveland Browns and South Carolina Gamecocks.

Don loved the outdoors and spent many years boating around various lakes in and around Ohio and South Carolina. His very favorite boating spot was Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. An avid collector of things, he started with baseball cards but grew into all things Nascar and most notably a large collection of model cars. He was a Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jr. fan for many years. A big fan of the Rolling Stones, of which he attended many concerts. We were blessed to have 5 beautiful German shepherds as our family dogs in the last 40 years. All of which were spoiled rotten.

Don was laid back, easy going, and the all-around nice guy that everyone loved. Seemingly quiet at first, he could talk with anyone and always made a point to try and remember people’s names. Nicknamed “Sam”, as he was often told by strangers his resemblance to Sam Elliott. His standard response to that was either, “If I had a dollar” (for every time he was told that), or “I think he has more money than me”. His life was cut short by a diagnosis of stage 4 esophageal cancer 14 months ago. He continued to live but one day at a time, and fought bravely until the end. Cancer may have stolen Don from us, but can never steal the love and memories we shared. In his last hours, he shared that he had seen his mother and then Kaiser, our beloved German shepherd who had passed last October. He told us, “He is climbing all over me”. Of course, Kaiser missed his daddy and couldn’t wait to greet him.

Donald will be greatly missed by his wife, Diana; daughter, Lauren (A.J.) Heckman; grandchildren Ruby and Milo Heckman; sisters, Judy (Steve) Bidgood and Kim (Steve) Stover; 10 nieces and nephews; and numerous extended family and close family friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Schoedinger Margarum Northeast, 1051 E Johnstown Road, Gahanna, Ohio 43230, on October 31, 2026, at 10:00 am, with visitation following the service at the same location until 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Donald’s name ([email protected]) may be made to https://chaanimalshelter.org/memorial-gifts/