Donald Milburn Obituary

Donald Raymond Milburn

Resident of San Mateo

Passed away on September 20, 2010, while hospitalized in San Mateo. Born in Syracuse, Nebraska on April 7, 1926, to Dee Melvin Milburn and Meta Rose Prahl, he and his family moved to California during the Great Depression and lived in the Bay Area for over sixty years. Don served as a U.S. Merchant Marine Officer during World War II on the Liberty class ships and later served in the U.S. Army. Don's first wife, Betty Reedy, was killed in a car accident in Nebraska on Thanksgiving of 1959. In June of 1964, Don married Barbara Roy Grady, a widow with three young sons, Bryan Donald Grady, Arthur Roy Grady, and Timothy Leonard Grady. He became her husband and their stepfather for forty-three years.

Don was a multi-talented man. He worked for twenty-five years as a plant foreman at the United Airlines maintenance base, first in the plumbing shop, then in the painting shop. In his spare time, Don played the guitar, and with Barbara as a pianist, they created a dance band and played for many years at social functions. After retiring from United, Don and Barbara teamed again in a family business that imported Peruvian goods and sold them to gift shops and specialty goods stores across the country. A devout Christian, he was active in the Lutheran faith at his church, Grace Lutheran of San Mateo.

Don cared for his mother Rose back in Nebraska until her death at age 101. He then provided loving care for Barbara as she battled dementia and Alzheimer's disease in her last years of earthly life. She preceded him in death by almost exactly two years. Don is survived by his four sisters, Opal Garton, Lois Nankervis, Doris Franco, and Alma Siebengartner, their three sons, and four grandchildren.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, September 24, at Grace Lutheran Church, 2825 Alameda de las Pulgas in San Mateo. Interment will be in Upper Lake, California, near the family lake cabin.

SNEIDER & SULLIVAN & O'CONNELL'S FUNERAL HOME (650) 343-1804

www.ssofunerals.com

Published by San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on Sep. 23, 2010.
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