Donald D Colburn 's Obituary
Donald Dean Colburn
You never knew when talking to “Pompa" if his sweet smile was because he was listening or if it was because he had turned off his hearing aids and was finally enjoying a little peace and quiet. After a long life with a childhood in farm country and careers in both the Air Force and the postal service, that quiet was hard-earned and well-deserved.
Officially giving up the name Don at the age of 54 when his first grandchild couldn’t pronounce the word “Grandpa,” Pompa spent the final decades of his life enjoying the close-knit family he led. He passed, surrounded by them, on April 12, 2017.
Don was born and raised in Wisconsin and took every chance he got to remind his Florida-raised kids that he walked for miles to school in the snow. Up hill. Both ways.
He joined the U.S. Air Force, and after a last-minute station change to East Kirkby, England, he met and married his British bride Therese O’Connor. The couple had a baby girl and moved their young family back to the States, where they had two more children in two different states. They moved from base to base, exploring the land together and making memories across the map. They finally settled in the Tacoma area in 1970.
A reserved and quiet man, Pompa may not have always had his ears turned on, but you could hear his heart through the sparkle in his eye.
He is reunited with his spirited wife Therese and is predeceased by five siblings. He leaves behind his children: Donna (Bob) LaFerriere, Sharon (Steve) Weinberg, Donald P. Colburn; his sister: Dawn; his grandchildren: Sheelah, Curtis, Leslie, Savannah and Connor and his great-grandchildren: Gracie, Lyla, Poppy and Mercer. He will also be mourned by many nieces and nephews around the world.
The family suggests memorials be made in Don’s memory to CHI Franciscan Foundation for Hospice care
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