Don was born and raised in the small town of Clifton, which is located in Fairfax, Virginia. He lived there for 16 years with his mother, father, and older sister Waneta. Don graduated from Fairfax High School in 1946, and at the age of 16, he left home and moved to Washington D.C. to work as a salesman in a shoe store.
While working as a shoe salesman he lived in a room in a private house. After working in D.C. for a while, he joined the Navy.
He served from 1948 to 1952 on the USS Midway, mostly in the Mediterranean. He met the mother of his three children, David, Donna, and Dana, in a dance hall in Centerville VA. He is now a proud grandfather of five and a great grandfather of one. After the service, Don worked at Steamfitters Local 602 and worked on anything that needed pipes. In his spare time, you could find Don piddling around on his small farm, helping out others, or meeting up with buddies at the American Legion.
In his younger days he enjoyed going to all of the high school sporting events and now he enjoys watching sporting events on his television! His favorite teams are the Orioles and the Redskins. He says his greatest accomplishment in life is raising a wonderful daughter that he is extremely proud of!