Donald Autry Stallings

STALLINGS, DONALD AUTRY. Born April 20, 1946, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Ethyel Autry McCallon Stallings and Theodore Donald Stallings. Passed away peacefully at his home in Austin, Texas, July 22, 2003. He graduated from Bryan Adams High School in 1964, and from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in history in August 1968. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in January 1969. He achieved the rank of SP4. His infantry duties included ten months in Vietnam, and for his services to his country he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and Combat Infantry Badge. After his honorable discharge in 1970, he attended graduate school at North Texas University in Denton. Before his early retirement due to disabilities, he worked for 12 years in the Financial Aid Office at UT Austin, where he won a Merit Award from the Texas Ex Parents Association for Outstanding Contributions in the area of Student Services, awarded for his efforts to help students and their families. Don had a remarkable natural gift as a teacher, an enthusiastic and unbridled curiosity, and a passion for books. His friends and family's sweet memories include him strumming his guitar and singing, and his fondness for his cats. Don was preceded in death by his father in 1997, and his second wife, Shirley Wallace Stallings in 2002. Don is survived by his daughter, Karen Stallings Wade and her husband Mattson, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and his mother of Dallas. In addition to his numerous family of friends in Austin, he is survived by his younger brothers and sisters: Greg Stallings of Tallahassee, Florida, Diana Hadley and husband Michael of Dallas, Texas, Stephen Stallings and wife Donna of Mesquite, Texas, Suzanne Guerra and husband Rudy of Irving, Texas; and by nieces and nephews: Gwendolyn Stallings and husband Frankie Hernandez, Jeremy "Max" Stallings, Siobhan Hadley, Laura Stallings, Seth Stallings, Sean Hadley, and great-niece Ariel Hernandez. Memorial services will be held at the Dreyfuss Club at White Rock Lake in Dallas at noon on Tuesday, July 29. Enter Lawther Drive from Buckner Blvd at Lake Highlands and follow signs. Private interment will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. A memorial celebration is planned to be held in Austin at a later date. Contributions, if desired, may be made to the S.P.C.A. or the charity of your choice.