Spouse or Significant Other::  Nancy Pisicchio-Widow

Children:  Daughter, Tracy Gatewood-40; Stepson Dan Ray-46

     Don went to Norfolk Jr. College and then to Wayne State Teachers College.  He then joined the Air Force, which wound up changing his life.  He was sent to Hawaii and enjoyed it so much he went back after he was discharged.   Before returning to Hawaii, he worked in Louisiana for awhile and met his first wife who had a son, Dan.  They moved to Washington state and he had a daughter, Tracy.  Then they moved to Hawaii where he did construction work until he was about 42. (He always said he would retire at 40, but missed it by a couple of years)

     Then his life changed drastically.  He married Nancy Pisicchio in 1983.  They "built" a 36 foot (I think) yacht.  They bought the shell of the boat, but they did the inside completely, seated the mast, added the ballast by carrying all the material used for weight up a ladder and dumping it inside.

     After they got the yacht ready, they set off to sail around the South Pacific.  I don't remember what year they started, but  I know they were in Australia in 1990.  They would sail to an island, meet the people there, and try to learn more about the culture before they took off again, so it was a several year expedition.

     They were in Japan when they learned that some friends were retiring.  The friends had a macadamia nut farm. They had planned to head for Alaska next to see siblings, Sue and John who were both living there.   Instead, they started sailing east until they reached Hawaii. They bought the farm and spent several years improving the farmhouse.  I think they did a couple of short trips in the boat after that, but mostly they stayed around home.  His widow, Nancy, still runs the farm with the help of our brother, John.   (Submitted by his sister, Nancy Gatewood Touil)

     Don lived two thirds of his life on tropical islands, beginning with being transferred to Honolulu while serving in the United States Air Force.  From then on, with the exception of a number of sojourns to temperate latitudes, he was never too far from coconut trees.

     Don was infected by "Island Fever" years before Jimmy Buffet wrote these words to his song of the same name!

"Palm trees and views I can't believe

Why would I ever want to leave?

I think I'll take my shoes off and go walking

Down beside the sea.

I like the funny sounds of parrots squawking

I think I hear a hammock calling me."

        Don often credited  his Mother and Father with providing him with the tools and confidence to take anything on.  From that foundation, over the years he found ways of making a living so that he could be his own boss.  And being his own boss, he worked two or three times harder than many other individuals.  He didn't learn to surf or speak Hawaiian, but wearing anything more than a pair of shorts amounted to too many clothes, although flip-flops and T-shirts were not overly resisted.  When Don ran the twenty-six mile Honolulu Marathon, he kicked off his jogging shoes after about the twenty-first mile, and finished the race barefooted.

    And Don was ahead of the times regarding what is currently referred to as "sustainability."  In hunting or fishing,  Don refused to kill more than he could eat.  He lived by the "three-legged-stool" standard which strives to strike a balance between financial pursuits, protection and our environment and maintenance of quality of life.   Therefore, when Don moved permanently on to his forty-four foot sail boat, he had finally attained a life-style that was completely in harmony with his instincts for living  within nature and limiting his foot print upon the earth's surface.  He appeared to be completely comfortable in living one day at a time and "going where the wind blows."  He traveled by wind power, generating electricity by wind and solar energy, and covering about forty thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean.  I'm sure he is out there somewhere today!  (Written by his widow, Nancy Pisicchio)

Updated 4/1/09