Donald P. Cummings

Sturbridge: Donald P. Cummings, Sr., 82, of Old Village Rd., passed on to his Jumpmaster on October 17th at St. Vincent's Hospital, after putting up a valiant fight against cancer.

He leaves his loving wife of 60 years, Margaret (Peggy) E. (Sozek) Cummings; his sons, Donald P. Cummings III and his wife Deborah of Oxford and Shawn P. Cummings of Shrewsbury; daughters, Tracy Edmiston and her husband Jonathan of Milton, GA, Kelley Horner and her husband Jeff of West Brookfield, Erin Cummings-Lapriore and her husband Jon of Southbridge, and Katie Cummings-Griswold and her husband Casey of Sturbridge; brothers, Michael Cummings of Philadelphia, PA and Kerry Cummings of Prince Edward Island; sister, Merideth Myers of FL; 13 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Donald was predeceased by his sister Catherine Cummings.

Donald was born in Springfield, the son of Donald P. and Jeanne (Fales) Cummings.

Donald was a graduate of Springfield Technical High School. He attended Hofstra University on a football scholarship, playing as a two-way starter. He was considered by the San Diego Chargers as a potential draft choice had he decided to turn professional.

Donald joined the U.S. Army Special Forces (Airborne) in 1966. He served during the Vietnam Conflict and was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group and ended his military career with the 11th Special Forces in Fort Devens. Donald was a Combat Engineer specializing in Demolitions/Explosives.

His professional career was always centered around marketing and sales. He worked for Mobil and Domino Sugar. He later moved toward hardware and power tool companies beginning with Millers Falls. He spent 27 years with Hyde Tools where he ended his career in 2006 as VP of Professional Products and VP of International Sales.

Donald spent 10 years with the Town of Sturbridge's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) where he supported many community/police operations. He also spent time as an instructor with the Connecticut State Police Bomb School.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to BreakthroughT1D (formerly Breakthrough Type 1 Diabetes (Formerly JDRF)) at https://www.breakthrought1d.org/ or the Green Beret Foundation, P.O. Box 25138, New York, NY 10087.

A Funeral Mass for Donald will be held on Friday, October 24th, at 11:00am in St. Mary's Church, 247 Hamilton St., Southbridge, MA. Calling hours will be held on Thursday, October 23rd, from 5:00-7:00pm in The Daniel T. Morrill Funeral Home, 130 Hamilton St., Southbridge. Burial will be at the convenience of the family.

The Daniel T. Morrill Funeral Home, 130 Hamilton St., Southbridge, is directing arrangements.