Don was a three sport athlete at Bennett participating in basketball and track, as a pole vaulter. he was best known, however, as a tough two way end in varsity football. Don was named first team All-High in both the 1948 and 1949 seasons for the Tigers. Don played on the 1948 squad that lost to Kensington before a still City of Buffalo record crowd for a sporting event, of over 52,000 spectators. Following his high school career, Don earned a football scholarship to Cornell University where he played one season. In January of 1951, with the outbreak of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, Don enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp. Don received the “Purple Heart”, in service to his country. After service, where Don did play some football at Camp Lejeune. He then enrolled at the University of Buffalo. There, a football injury cut his football career short.
Don’s work career was as a Sales Manager in the automobile industry, and later as a financial advisor with the Morgan Stanley firm. Don and his wife of 56 years, Mary Lou, reside in Palm Harbor, FL and have 5 children. Today, Don is a singer in a barbershop quartet, and is involved in a prison ministry, Kairos, an international organization in 31 states and 9 countries.