Photo courtesy of Clymer Funeral Home Cremations - Palm Coast
1928 - 2018
I just became aware of this. On behalf of my father and step mother ( Howard and Guyneth Maines) our condolences. They worked together at NASA. My dad spoke of Don Lichty often.
Don Maines
April 02, 2020 | Ocala, FL | Friend
May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Betty Engel/Knight
May 27, 2018 | Friend
A good man who I knew as a neighbor...his son, Don was a HS classmate.
Larry Cherney
March 27, 2018 | Annandale, VA
My condolences to the family and loved one's. I played baseball for Mr. Lichty for four years on the Optimist Club back in the early 60's. He was not only a great coach, but a great teacher. He had a gift and a passion for the game of baseball and so did I. He didn't want any of us to take anything for granted. Work hard and do your best was what he always expected of us.
I felt privileged playing for Coach Lichty. Those four years will never be forgotten. I learned not only about...
February 08, 2018
Dear Mrs. Lichty and Jean--as a former student at Yorktown, Class of '73, I wanted to extend my sympathies to you and your family when I saw the obituary in the Wash.Post today. Thinking of you as you mourn the loss and celebrate the life of Mr. Lichty.
Nina James Hochevar
February 04, 2018 | Montg. Vlg., MD
I am sorry to hear of Brother Don Lichty's passing. He was a member of Gamma Delta Psi's Zeta chapter while at Western HS. I met with him in Arlington while updating the history of our fraternity. Don served as National President during the late 1940s, coordinating activities of our 10 chapters spread throughout the USA.
Kevin Stockdale
February 04, 2018 | Staunton, VA
I'm so sorry for your loss but you must be very proud of Coach Lichty's legacy. For me, he will always be remembered as 'the best coach I ever had'. His commitment and caring for those he coached set a standard for all of us to try to attain. Thanks Don
Gary Kirkbride
January 31, 2018 | Arlington, VA
So sorry to read of Don's passing. I worked at NASA when he was there. We have visited with he and his family several times, along with mutual friend Nan Delaney and other NASA alumni! Our sympathies to his family.
Bettie LaMotte
January 28, 2018 | Ormond Beach, FL
To the Lichty family, I am sorry for your sorrow at this time of loss. I never knew Donald but spoke to him one time on the phone when I was searching my genealogy. He was a third cousin. His grandfather Jacob and my great grandfather John Adam Lichty were brothers.
Shirley
Shirley Miller
January 28, 2018 | Ozark, AL
Donald Herman Lichty, 89, of Palm Coast, FL passed away on January 23, 2018 of MSA/Parkinson's Syndrome at Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House. Born on April 11, 1928 in Washington D.C. to Mildred and Herman Lichty, he graduated from Western High School, where he met the love of his life and his spouse of seventy years -- Joanne Dillon Lichty. He is survived by his wife; three devoted children, Donald T. Lichty (Patricia), Carol D. Giles (Glenn), and Jean M. Lichty; two grandchildren, Travis McGavin and Heather Hallett; and six great-grandchildren.
Earning a B.A., cum laude, in History from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) and a M.A., with distinction, in Government and Public Administration from American University, he served the federal government for thirty years and became an important figure at NASA during the 1960's and 1970's when he assisted and protected his neighbor and colleague, John Glenn, and helped the space program to blossom. Although a modest man, he accrued numerous awards for his outstanding service to NASA including the Apollo Achievement Award, Letters of Commendation from Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter --- and, in 1996 he was elected to the Western-Ellington Alumni Hall of Fame.
A multi-talented Renaissance man, he appreciated music and theater of all kinds, singing professionally with the Precisionists, the Singing Capital Chorus of SPEBSQSA, and the Washington Redskin Singers, which he founded and then co-directed for over twenty years.
An excellent athlete, Don was an All High football star at Western, an undefeated welterweight boxer at Western Maryland, and an accomplished golfer later in life. But he also loved working with teenagers and influenced hundreds of young men as the storied baseball coach of the Arlington Optimist Club, which he led to sixteen consecutive championships. After the Better Sports Club of Arlington honored Don for his service to Arlington youth, Richard Nixon awarded him a Presidential Commendation for his “exceptional service to others.”
A student of history, he stood for justice for all and lived a highly principled life, helping minorities and women fight discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The first director of NASA's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, he was indeed a man ahead of his time.
A memorial service will be held later this year in his beloved Arlington, VA, where he lived for fifty-five years.
The family of Mr. Lichty entrusted the arrangements to Clymer Funeral Home & Cremations.
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