Donald Lindsay

"Donnie"

Prom Committee 54; Junior Play 54;

Liberty Bell Staff 56.

After graduation with the LHS Class of ’56, I attended William Jewell for one year, and then went to Finlay Engineering College in Kansas City, receiving my degree in 1960. While still in school I married Louise DeHart on June 27, 1959. Following graduation I accepted an engineering position with the Illinois Division of Highways in Belleville, Illinois, where we remained until early 1963, when I began active duty with the U. S. Navy. While we were in Illinois, Louise gave birth to our first son, Randall Wayne, on October 17, 1962.

During my two-years of active duty I was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CVS-12), and spent time in Long Beach, Japan, San Francisco, and San Diego, completing my obligation in early 1965. Except for my time in Japan, Louise and Randy were able to be with me during my active service. Following my release the three of us returned to Liberty, bought our first house, and I obtained a position as a design engineer with The Marley Company in Kansas City. Our second son, Jeffrey Alan, was born the morning of June 25, 1966 - the day of the Class of ’56 tenth reunion.

In late 1968, I was offered a position in Marley’s New York sales office, so just before Thanksgiving, and somewhat to our families chagrin, we moved to northern New Jersey. We made many close friends while we were in New Jersey, largely through our involvement in church, and it was very difficult to leave when I took a management position with a Baltimore-based company in the spring of 1976.

In early December of 1976, Louise suffered a grand mal seizure, and several subsequent lesser seizures. After three months of tests and examinations trying to determine a cause, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and surgery was recommended. The surgery was performed at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, but Louise never regained consciousness afterward, and passed away on March 31,1977.

The boys and I remained in Baltimore until 1980, when I decided to return to field sales, and took a position with a manufacturer’s representative in Houston, Texas. Randy and Jeff both graduated from high school in Texas, and Randy graduated from Baylor University in Waco, in 1986. Jeff joined the army following high school, ultimately serving over ten years in Special Forces, including Desert Storm.

In 1983, in Houston, I met Beverly Wade, a Texas born and bred businesswoman, and we were married on April 22, 1984.

In early 1985, I was offered a sales/partnership position with a Charlotte-based manufacturers representative firm, so Beverly and I packed up most of what was still essentially two households of belongings, and went east to Columbia, South Carolina. For sixteen years we worked together, until a disability necessitated early retirement for Beverly in 2001. I am still working in engineering sales, and we are actively involved in the ministry of our church. My having finally found a twelve-month golf season, we remain in Columbia, and have no plans to do otherwise.