Tim Budner
Don and I first met at St. Luke Elementary School in Lakewood, Ohio in September of 1964. Being assigned to the same first grade classroom and teacher, Don and I became friends, a friendship that neither of us knew at the time would last a lifetime.
Our stories are as numerous and varied as one would expect from long-time friends, but most recently I was talking to Don a few weeks before his last major cancer surgery. Jan joined us on the phone and we somehow ended up discussing an issue that I was dealing with. Don was soon facing a critical surgical procedure and yet he was concerned about my problem! That is simply who Don was to me. For most of the 62 years I knew Don and especially as we transitioned from childhood and adolescence to adulthood, I found him to be wise, humble, non-judgmental, brave, and full of compassion and empathy. Don was a safe-haven, a friend who I could really talk to without fear of judgment, manipulation, or betrayal. True friends can be a rarity, and I consider myself fortunate to have known Don and to have called him my friend.
Don’s family wrote a beautiful obituary and in my conversations with Don over the years, his love for Jan and their children was evident - they were everything to him.
I will miss my buddy. I will miss the talks yet to be finished, and the conversations we won’t get to have. Don was one of the good guys.
