It is with much sadness that I write about the death of a great friend who passed away Wednesday morning after a valiant effort battling lung cancer. It all went too fast - we were golfing last Fall as the diagnosis came in, and now on the virtual eve of his birthday, he has been taken. Such is life...

Don grew up in Michigan and was that most wanted commodity as a young man, a caddie who would always find your ball, and a baseball catcher who could hit. Doing well in academics as well, he won a place at West Point, got a degree in engineering and caught for them as well. After graduation he was married to the love of his life, another Army brat, Suzan, and luckily was shipped off to Germany where he was promoted to Captain. He was then shipped off to Viet Nam. When he returned to the US he and Suzan ventured to the wilds of Indiana where he worked for 4 years at Western Electric supervising the manufacturing processes for making telephones out of plastic. He left them to work for Glastic Corporation, selling plastics - then on to Dynacon and then became VP of sales at Rogan in Northbrook, this time selling plastic knobs. From there, he started selling plastic injection molding equipment and conveyers for plastic parts, and to this day was his own boss at NAB sales, thereby completing the cycle of working for one of the world's largest corporations to the smallest.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Suzan was dealing with Nicole and Aimee, his loving daughters - and finally Beau who garnered much of his attention. They moved from Margaret Terrace in Cary to Trout Valley in the early 80's, did all the fun stuff they could with the kids - swimming and tennis at the Trails as well as at the Valley. Don was not only an avid golfer and tennis player, he was good at both sports. As far as intellectual pursuits were concerned, Don was also an avid reader - especially of historical novels about the Civil War, and an excellent bridge player (although we all knew it was Suzan who held that bridge team together). He gave a lot to his family and to his beloved Trout Valley community. He volunteered for many Valley activities, including serving on the Board of Directors (Treasurer), cleaning out the fen, and was the organizational whiz who made the Silent Auction for the Fen a great success.

To Don, the most important part of his life was FAMILY. Nicole had moved up into northern Michigan where she ran an antiques shop until the economy went bust, then enrolled in nursing school. The skills she learned there have helped Don in these latter days. Aimee is the financial genius of the family. She married Brian Williams (of American Airlines, not NBC News) and now lives in northern Michigan as well with Grandkids Jack and Summer. Beau finally found love and married Sissy (Thereza), moved to Prague, Czechoslovakia and presented Don and Sue with 3 more Grandkids, Josie, Stella and Collette. All will be here in mid-April to celebrate Don's birthday on the 16th. Don had also been a big help to my family as we went through my many heart issues. We will all miss him much more than we realize.

Wally Zimmerman