Don leaves behind Shirley, his wife of 61 years. Don and Shirley met as co-workers at TWA and crisscrossed the globe together during their long marriage. They used their airline passes to fly from Kansas City to Las Vegas one weekend in 1957 for a date at the famed Little White Chapel. Don liked to say, “If you’re going to take a gamble on marriage, might as well do it in Vegas.” Don and Shirley doubled down on that bet of a lifetime together becoming parents to Shari, Randy and Craig. Their children would tell you Don was a devoted parent, as well, to their canine siblings, Fritz, Larry and the doted-upon Emma.
Almost as much as he loved his wife and kids, Don loved his tools and truck. He could build anything and fix everything, and quite literally whistled while he worked. No one needed a manual or Google to figure out how to trouble-shoot a problem. Just call Don.
Don took pride in being an Army veteran, a Shriner and a sometimes leader with his sons’ sports and Scouts pursuits. He generally took frustration in being a Royals and Chiefs fan.
In addition to his wife and three children (and Emma), Don is survived by daughter-in-law Luda (Craig), grandchildren Brandon, Jake, Janae, Joe, Rose, Sasha and Misha, sisters-in-law Donna (Harold) Kuhn and Sue Heiman, and dozens of nieces and nephews.
The Kirksville native spent most of his life in Kansas City, Missouri and its suburbs. A memorial for Don will be at 11am on Friday, August 24, at White Chapel Funeral Home in Gladstone. Visitation with the family (minus Emma) will be at 10am.
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