As I attempted to say at his memorial service, Don was a longtime family friend from the days they all worked at Tacoma together. Relatives remember visiting him at his desk when they were little and him always having a kind word.
Don was the kind of person who brightened your day even if you only saw him for a moment. I heard a lot about Don and was fortunate to reconnect with him in his later years.
My takeaway from Don's interactions with my family for the better part of a century is to be the kind of friend you're still excited to see in 60 or 70 years. Be the kind of person others will tell their grandchildren about.That's who Don was. His lifelong commitment to his family, through trial and tribulation, showed a rare strength of character and remarkable resilience.He never allowed life's hurricanes to derail his faith.
Don was a hero, and may we honor his memory by keeping our commitments to family, friends, faith, and country.
True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
–Arthur Ashe