Donald Pfanz

1958 - 2025

Donald Pfanz

April 16, 1958 - September 2, 2025

Donald Pfanz of Spotsylvania County, VA died in his home on Sept. 2 from Glioblastoma brain cancer. Pfanz was born on April 16, 1958, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the son of Harry W. Pfanz and Letitia Earll Pfanz. He was predeceased by his first wife, Betty Davidsen Pfanz, and is survived by his second wife, Zandra Montalvo Pfanz; brother, Frederick Pfanz of Westerville, Ohio; and sister, Marion Ake of Woodsboro, Maryland.

Pfanz grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Wootton High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, before graduating with a B.A. degree in history from the College of William and Mary in 1980, where he played on the varsity soccer team. After college he made his career with the National Park Service, serving for 32 years at Petersburg Battlefield Park, Fort Sumter National Monument, and Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County National Military Park. In the latter assignment, he helped organize and execute the annual Chatham Concert Series, National Cemetery Luminaria, and Memorial Day Program.

An avid preservationist, Pfanz was a founder of The Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (now The American Battlefield Trust). He also wrote 10 books on key people and places of the Civil War, including Clara Barton's Civil War, Richard S. Ewell: A Soldier's Life, War So Terrible: A Popular History of the Battle of Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania National Military Park and Fredericksburg: A Comprehensive Civil War Guide.

The interment service will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to The American Battlefield Trust at https://www.battlefields.org/give/memorial-special-occasion-gifts.