Don was born on a farm in Kansas and as a part of that upbringing learned to use his hands at an early age. "On the farm, you had to be able to fix or build anything. We could not afford to do otherwise." Don said. With that background, woodcarving became a natural hobby.

After high school, Don was able to earn his way through Kansas State College, by playing trumpet in a dance band and farming a quarter section of land in Kansas. With a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering, he went to work in the atomic energy program at Union Carbide in Oak Ridge, Tenn. He worked for Union Carbide for 35 years stationed in Colorado, Wyoming, Arkansas, Niagara Falls, NY, New York City and Danbury Conn. He worked in the uranium mining and milling industry after Oak Ridge and finally became responsible for Union Carbides' mineral exploration and mine development worldwide. That job required tremendous amounts of traveling around the globe. When Don retired, he was Vice President of Exploration and Mine Development worldwide.

Don has done woodworking all of his life, but decided to try carving shortly before he retired, in 1985. His first project was a robin, which was a disaster. That project was so bad that he almost never tried carving again. He blames it on a bad teacher. Fortunately, a few years later he took a lesson from Rosalyn Daisey, a world-class bird carver, and in that case carved and painted an Eastern bluebird that turned out pretty good. That got him hooked on carving. Initially most of his carvings were birds and animals and primarily with power. He then tried caricature carving and really enjoys that, and currently that is mostly what he carves.

Don's other hobbies include duplicate bridge, which he and his wife Violet enjoy a great deal. They are both accredited national bridge teachers. Don is a bridge director and they own and run three bridge games a week in Port St Lucie. They also from time to time teach bridge on cruise ships. Don also enjoys photography, sings in his church choir, and he and his wife travel as often as possible. As well as attending the Treasure Coast Woodcarvers meetings twice a week, Don also teaches woodcarving at his church on Friday and also at his community clubhouse. Don is Vice President of the Treasure Coast Woodcarvers and is the Annual Show Chairman, February 6&7, 2010 at the Frances Langford Center in Jensen Beach.