Donald farmed with his father and worked for area farmers and at the Swift Company plant in New Rockford. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in August of 1940, with basic training at Great Lakes, MI. He was assigned to the U.S.S. Yorktown at Pearl Harbor. Donald sailed through the Panama Canal to the Atlantic and did convoy duty to Europe until the December 7, attack on Pearl Harbor. He was then sent back to patrol duty in the Pacific where he took part in the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway. He was wounded and received a Purple Heart medal when the Yorktown was sunk at Midway. He was assigned to salvage and repair on the U.S.S. West Virginia which had been sunk at Pearl Harbor. He served on the YF745, a barge off the Palawan Islands and Samar Islands in the Philippines and at the Naval Air Station on Samar Islands. He was discharged as an Electrician’s Mate First Class in Minneapolis in August of 1946, and returned home.

Donald farmed with his father until he married Barbara Ann Hitz on October 12, 1953, when they took over the family farm near Bremen. They retired from farming in August 1995, and moved to New Rockford.

He served on the Bremen school board for several years, the Bremen Township Board for many years, community ASC Committee, many church committees of St. Joseph Church, and was a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He is survived by his wife, two daughters; Jo Ann (Allen) Berg, West Fargo, ND, Jennifer Jane Lies, Horace, ND; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; three sisters, Kathryn Ann Lies and Clara Mae Vanzura, both of Albuquerque, NM, and Mary Ellen Thurman, Tigard, OR.

Donald was preceded in death by one son, Randall; one daughter, Lee Ann; his parents; and three brothers, Leonard, James and Cletus.

Funeral Service: St. John’s Catholic Church, New Rockford, ND

Date and Time: Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM

Interment: St. Joseph’s Cemetery, rural Bremen, ND at 12:45 PM