Donald Whitsell

1932 - 2011

Donald Keith Whitsell
Evansville, Indiana
Donald Keith Whitsell, 78, passed away on November 19, 2011, at Deaconess Hospital. He was born December 10, 1932, in Sebree, Kentucky.
After Don graduated from Reitz High School in 1951, he entered an apprenticeship program at Bucyrus Erie where he later attained his certification as a Journeyman Tool and Die Maker.
From 1954 to 1956, during the Korean conflict, Don joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA. He was a Corporal in CO.D of the Engineer Regiment.
When he returned home from service, he enrolled in engineering classes at UE while still working at Bucyrus Erie. While he was in college, he met Nancy in 1958 and they were married a year later. Shortly thereafter he began working for Master Tool and Die, and later went to work for the Whirlpool Corporation where he retired after 28 years.
While a student at UE he was one of the founding fathers of the Zeta Beta Chapter of TKE Fraternity on Campus.
Don loved the outdoors and was an avid hunter and hiker. If the family needed something fixed he was the man who could do it.
He was preceded in death by his father, Thomas Whitsell and mother, Pauline (Tow) Whitsell.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Nancy (Kitchin) Whitsell; son, Mark Curtis Whitsell (Robin); and daughter, Kathleen Elise Whitsell Shockley (Robert); six grandchildren, Adin and Ryan Schockley, and Katie, Tracy, Mark and Scott Whitsell; and eight great grandchildren.
Services will be 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 23, 2011, at Alexander Memorial Park, officiated by Rev. Joe Mitchell, with entombment to follow. Friends may visit Tuesday, from 2:00 to 6:00 PM at Alexander West Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Don's memory to: The Paralyzed Veterans of America, 7 Mill Brook Road, Wilton, NH 03086. Condolences may be made online at www.AlexanderWestChapel.com.