Don Springston

Well, the world lost a humble, caring, and genuine man on November 11th, 2025. My dear grandfather, who always left me with a warm heart and smiling face, did the same for almost anyone he met. He left this world quickly on Tuesday, likely from a fall, but at 94 years old he had lived a full life. I can't imagine there being much better of a person than he was, even a man ahead of his time in many ways, because I believe he really understood what Jesus taught, just to love people, even if he didn't go to church often.
He was so generous and devoted a lot of energy, making sure we spent time together. As a kid/teenager I could always count on him to come get me for the weekend with a quick call. I also spent 1 or 2 months during many summers with him in Ravenswood and on trips to Canaan Valley area fishing and 4-wheeling. He would often take my dad, uncle, and cousins over to the South Branch of the Potomac River fishing, and he spent a ton of his time baiting and unhooking the fish that all of us kids caught. It was almost a constant cycle helping us kids, and I'm not sure how much fishing he actually got done, but as a group, we'd often catch 50 or more fish in a half-day of casting. I also remember 'seining' for our own bait to have a stock of crawdads for fishing. Also on those trips and countless others, I remember how generous he was by grabbing tomatoes from Ohio, which was right across the river from Ravenswood, and delivering them to his friends in Canaan Valley, because they had a much different growing season and good tomatoes were harder to come by there.
I recall his love of playing and knowledge of sports, particularly basketball and football. He would often give me pointers while shooting hoops, head to gyms in Ripley to play pickup games (which I was usually just watching). I always remember how good he was even into his 60s, and he was usually playing with guys in their 30s. In his 60s (maybe 70s), I remember he and his buddies winning a 3 on 3 tournament in Elkins. I loved hearing his stories about playing pickup games against some of the WVU players when he was in his 20s and beating them often. He said he probably should have been a college player, but started having kids too early for that! He also played in a tournament that Jerry West was also playing in, and while he didn't get to face West, he said his team gave the team that faced West a better game than the following game. I have no doubt that he would have been a solid player and eventual coach at the college level. He had the skills, love for the game, and mind for it.
I recall after he retired encouraging his stubborn guy friends to help their wives around the house with cooking and cleaning. Papaw very likely did a majority of that work around the house in retirement and had the best pancakes, spaghetti, and iced tea. My boys still talk about loving his pancakes. We try to make them often, but never quite get them to be as good as his. I also recall a story of him getting onto my dad when I was a kid, because my dad complained to my mom about a cold meal. Papaw took up for her and said that she spent alot of time making food for him while having little boys in the house, and that he should be grateful to only have to warm it. Always loved his common sense approach to issues like that.
He (and grandma) selflessly took care of my dad and his battles with multiple sclerosis for several decades, and really didn't complain much because they always reminded me how hard it must be to not be able to have full control over your body and it's deterioration. Papaw (and grandma) also cared for and allowed my brother to live with them for most of his adult life as well, because they had such big hearts. They were both very devoted to family and somehow had the energy even into their 70s and 80s to keep up with it all. I was also always amazed at how he handled stressful situations where most of us probably couldn't keep our cool. He would somehow just let it roll off his sleeve like it was no big deal. I think he had some simple insight into controlling that internally and just being pragmatic when dealing with challenges.
I recall being impressed by him voting for Jesse Jackson in the 1988 election, because I grew up around a lot of people who would let skin color sway their decision-making. I believe some of his open-minded approaches could have come from working in coal mines with all kinds of immigrants. He routinely talked about his Italian and Syrian friends, and sometimes the wild times they had in bars and poolrooms. He was a solid pool player as well, which we enjoyed together often. I was also impressed that he spent countless hours growing up playing pool in smoky bars with drinking all around him, but he never had much to do with that, and would often talk to me about staying away from those things because of addiction and what it did to his father. It's always been a fairly easy choice for me, partly because of my faith, but I also owe him backing me up as well.
I also remember a time as a teenager when my parents were being pretty adamant about me getting a job and working, but had a hard time figuring out how without transportation in remote Ritchie County where we lived. It was kind of a chicken and egg argument. How could I work without getting a car, and how could I get a car without getting to work? However, I do recall Papaw telling me that as soon as I was 18, life was gonna be non-stop work and effort to just get ahead, and that I should do my best to enjoy some of my teenage years, and then hope to find a work/life balance as I moved into adulthood. I think he grew up seeing alot folks do nothing but work, and how they didn't enjoy their lives and struggled with health, which shaped that outlook which he taught me. I still find that valuable advice. However, that summer that I was debating finding work with my parents, I recall staying at his house, washing cars and campers for his friends and folks around town. I ended up making almost a few thousand dollars working on average 10 hours a week! My parents still didn't seem 100% happy, but I was because I figured out how to make more money in less time, and still got to enjoy a lot of the summer with my grandparents. I also remember him being a big advocate for unions and chased tractor trailers clear to Texas to report about their union-busting activities.
I also remember him picking my brother and I up along with 3 or 4 friends and our cousins to celebrate our birthday at their house in Ravenswood. Partway through the night, our one friend's dad was frustrated about something and requested that his son get home. Papaw didn't hesitate and drove him back 1.5 hrs each way. Then the next day when he was 'allowed' to come back, Papaw drove back to get him to he could spend more time with us all.
These are just a few of the many examples of his selflessness devotion, care, and love toward his family. He always had funny stories about his sons, friends, and acquaintances, and we all had/have a lot to learn from him. I could go on and on. We'll surely miss him in the present, but I have a feeling we'll see him again in whatever the next life is like!
Let deeds, not words, be your adorning. -'Abdu'l-Baha
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." -John F. Kennedy
"...the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." - Martin Luther King
"...change can be so constant you don't even feel the difference until there is one. It can be so slow that you don't even notice that your life is better or worse, until it is. Or it can just blow you away, make you something different in an instant." - George from 'My Life as A House