Don Banta

1928 - 2015

Don Banta passed away peacefully on Feb. 10, 2015 at the Bishop Care Center, and entered Heaven, leaving an extraordinary life.
Donald Banta was born in Bishop on July 8, 1928 and moved to Lee Vining at the age of two. As a child, Donny spent his days helping his mother and father with the family business and attending school at Lee Vining Elementary. He fell in love with the Mono Basin and Eastern Sierra at this young age.
Often he and his older brother Cliff would accompany their grandfather on weekend adventures up to Lundy Camp where they would fish and enjoy the long, warm, Sierra summer days. His youth was spent along the shores of Mono Lake swimming, camping and learning to hunt. Some of Don's favorite trips were spent touring the headwaters of the Kings River on horseback and mule, fishing for golden trout with his grandfather Harry Halliday, founder of Halliday's Rainbow Pack Outfit. Don Banta became an avid outdoorsman and an excellent skier during these early years.
In the early 1940s, the Lee Vining School was closed to support the war effort, and Don spent the week days attending Bishop Union High School. In 1945, Don graduated high school and shortly after moved to Fresno, where he attended Fresno State College.
Don met the love of his life in Fresno, and in 1948 married Rita Wamsley. Don and Rita moved back to Lee Vining after college, where they began to build their life and raise a family. He and Rita built and operated the Lake View Lodge while raising four children.
Don Banta was always passionate about helping people, serving his community, and the Eastern Sierra. He coached skiing at Lee Vining High School when it reopened, and led the team to many championships. For more than 35 years he was member of the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department. Twenty of those years Don Banta served as Chief. Don was a Free Mason and past master of the local Masonic Lodge. For more than 50 years, Don served on the Lee Vining Public Utility District and was instrumental in design, development and operation of the Lee Vining Community public utility system. This remains to be one of the most operationally unique systems in the state.
He was a member of the Bishop Elks Lodge, the June Lake Lee Vining Lions Club, Eastern Sierra School Board, the Tioga Pass Council and a charter member of E Clampus Vitus Bodie 64 chapter.
Don Banta was responsible for spearheading many community projects in the town of Lee Vining. He organized charitable fundraisers for the Lions Club and was influential in seeing through the construction of the Walter Lance Baseball field and Lee Vining High School. There was little in the Mono Basin that Don wasn't involved with. He was a key liaison between the Eastern Sierra business community and the National Park Service in his endless effort each year to open Tioga Pass. Don and Rita provided the land and built the Lee Vining Post Office. He was instrumental in development of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center and relocation and renovation of the Old School House Museum in Lee Vining. He was an active member of the Mono Basin Historical Society and co-author of Images of America Mono Lake Basin, of which he included many photos and accounts from his collection.
Don Banta marveled the natural wonders of the Eastern Sierra and Mono Basin which he lived. His knowledge of Eastern Sierra history, lore and the natural environment were renowned. He was called upon in creation of the Mono Basin National Scenic Area.
Don Banta was consulted in numerous environmental and resource policy decisions supporting the Mono Basin and the entire Eastern Sierra. He was contributory to the Mono Lake Committee in fighting to protect water resources of the Basin. He worked closely with the Bighorn Sheep Foundation to reintroduce a herd of Sierra Bighorn into Lee Vining Canyon, which he worked endless hours with Fish and Wildlife Service Biologists to monitor and manage. He worked with Ducks Unlimited, the United States Forest Service, and the Mono Lake Committee to fund and restore the Dechambue Ponds.
Don loved birds, and was involved in bird counts and studies throughout the Mono Basin for decades. In his later years, Don continued to reside in Lee Vining where he would teach his children and grandchildren to love and be good stewards of the environment. Don's golden years were spent photographing the landscapes and people which he loved, and compiling historical photos as the unofficial historian and chronicler of Mono County. He was a friend to everyone and was passionate about those things that make up the essence of the Eastern Sierra and Mono Basin.
Throughout his life, he religiously attended Sunday services at the Lee Vining Community Presbyterian Church with his wife Rita at his side. Don Banta was a devout Christian man whose virtues where personified through good nature, an acute sense of family and propriety. He had an infectious sense of humor and a smile as big as the mountains which he loved. He never closed his door to a stranger and would often open the Lake View Lodge or his home to folks in need. Don was passionate about his faith in God and his love for his family.
Don and Rita relished a beautiful marriage for more than 66 years, living their dream out in their mountain paradise. They raised four children, and forever influenced five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Throughout his entire life, Don Banta exemplified what it meant to be a husband to his wife Rita, a father to his children, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, a friend, a steward of the environment, and a role model to all.
Don Banta is survived by his wife, Rita Banta of Lee Vining; his son, William "Bill" Banta and daughter-in-law, Serena Banta of Lee Vining; daughter, Susan Wenzel and son-in-law Steven Wenzel of Templeton; daughter, Joan Grant of Sacramento; sister, Bette Ellen of Casa Grande, Ariz.; aunt, Phillis Skaggs of Bishop; five grandchildren, Matt, Jeff and Tim Banta and Thomas and Colleen Grant; and eight great-grandchildren.
An outdoor celebration of Don Banta's life will be held for friends and family on June 13, 2015 at the Lee Vining Community Presbyterian Church.
Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierra will forever remember Don Banta. He left tracks that will never be blown away by the winds of time, and sewed seeds in the hearts of souls that will grow and flourish forever.