Donald Henry Hepburn

November 10, 1930 - May 21, 2022

Two months after celebrating his 70th wedding anniversary, Donald Henry quietly shuffled off to Buffalo with his wife Joan and his daughters, the 3Ts, by his side.

Don lived a big, noisy life. Over his 91 years he was a schoolboy in Haney; an RCAF airman, radio operator, recruiting officer and flight lieutenant, (logging 1600 hours in Lancasters and Neptunes); an innkeeper; a bartender; and an entrepreneur. He was a Mason and Shriner (‘Mr. Don the Clown’) and the proud President of the 800 (Pacific) Wing for many years.

Although he sacrificed the best part of his knees playing basketball for the airforce, Don continued to dabble in, (but never quite master), many other sports including golf, curling and skiing.

A maker of balloon animals and elaborate costumes, Don loved to entertain. He played an assortment of odd instruments - the gut bucket, the fluteophone (that he could play with his nose), the ukulele and the spoons. A player of many card games, Don’s poker crowd quickly learned that if ‘check or call Don’ ever raised, it was best to fold.

He was the best of grandfathers (Moo Moo) to his six grandchildren, making ‘stout sticks’ for hikes, picking them up from school, wholeheartedly supporting their sport, theatre and music efforts, making big waffle breakfasts, and taking them on epic trips to Auntie Barbara’s ranch in the Kettle Valley.

Don loved big band and traditional jazz music, and was a passionate follower of the Dixieland jazz artists in Victoria, spending many happy hours at Hermann’s Jazz Club.

Don leaves his sister, Barbara Davison, his three daughters Terry (Dave) Lisson, Tracy (Douglas) Shaw, Toni (Lee) Burton; his six grandchildren, Keely, Kassie (Landon), Max, Danny, Sara (Liban) and Honeylyn; his much loved great-grandsons, Koen and Kingsley; and his wife of 70 years, Joan - ‘When they want to see, how true love should be, they’ll just look at us.”

A celebration of Don’s life will be held at the Trafalgar Pro Patria Legion, 411 Gorge Rd West, at 12 noon on Sunday, June 19th. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Arts on View Society, to keep Don’s jazz alive at Hermann’s Jazz Club.