Donald Raymond Kovac

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the oldest of seven sons of Joseph and Elvina Snyder Kovac. Don graduated from Oliver High School in Pittsburgh, attended both Pitt and Penn State and earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Phoenix. Don served in the US Army and the Army Reserves. Don moved to Arizona in 1978 after living in Indiana and Ohio. The Blizzard of ’78 was all the incentive Don and his wife, Shirley, needed to head west to the warmth and sunshine of Arizona. Don worked in Information Technology for American Express, MicroAge, RCA, HJ Heinz as well as other companies that eventually led him to Avnet, where he retired as Vice President of Global Support Services in 2005.

Don and his wife, Shirley, loved to travel the world visiting Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. They loved to spend time exploring Arizona and spent many retirement years driving cross country visiting historical locations as well as friends and family. Don loved sports and enjoyed golf and pickleball. He loved adventurous experiences such as hot air ballooning, riding a mule into the Grand Canyon, flying in a glider, driving a racecar at PIR, doing a ride along in a mining truck and taking a tiger cruise on the USS Kitty Hawk from Hawaii to San Diego. He was a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and followed all of the Pittsburgh sports teams as well as the Arizona teams. Don was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Scottish Rite and the Shriners.

Don was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Shirley, his parents and his brothers Mark, William (Bill) and Glenn. He is survived by his daughters Terry Pieta Byers of Florence AZ and Jill Pieta of Sun Lakes AZ, his brothers Kenneth Kovac of Surprise AZ, Joseph Wayne Kovac of Pennsylvania and Lee Kovac of North Carolina as well as a large, loving family of nieces, nephews and grand dogs.

A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday, October 29th, 2026, at 1:30pm at Risen Savior Lutheran Church, 23914 South Alma School Road, Sun Lakes, AZ 85248.

If you are unable to attend, the service will be live streamed on the church’s web site. Log into www.risensavioraz.org at the time of the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations are welcome to Shriner’s Children’s Hospitals (https://www.shrinerschildrens.org/), St Jude’s Hospital (https://www.stjude.org/donate) or Friends for Life Animal Rescue (https://azfriends.org/support/donate)