Donald Mark Hey

Donald "Don" Mark Hey, 58, of Canton, Georgia, moved on to what he called his "new beginning" on Oct. 15, 2025.
Born Nov. 4, 1966, in Orlando, Florida, Don lived with curiosity, compassion, and a gentle strength that touched everyone who knew him. He was a lifelong spiritual seeker.
He attended Valencia Community College and later trained as a certified nursing assistant and phlebotomist, becoming one of the top phlebotomists at his hospital. In recent years, he and his wife co-owned All Things Intuitive, a company dedicated to helping others. His most recent job was at Home Depot, where he loved his co-workers and enjoyed mentoring the younger staff.
Earlier in life, he enjoyed a career in journalism with the Orlando Sentinel, working his way from newsroom runner to full editor. He interviewed artists such as Fiona Apple and Travis Tritt, notably edited the TV Time magazine, designed lifestyle pages, and submitted several published editorial cartoons.
Don was a creative soul-a lover of nature, music, and spirituality. He liked to say he might've been a monk in another life. He even carried his dual nature in the tattoos on his hands: "PUNK" on one, "MONK" on the other. He was tenderhearted, funny, loyal and endlessly curious. Family always came first; he asked how everyone else was before he ever talked about himself.
He explored many paths during his life-journalism, health care, and entrepreneurship. At Home Depot, Don received numerous customer service and other awards. He dreamed of sharing his love of nature through a company he created called Peace, Love, and Backpacking and was working on a YouTube channel titled "Don of the Day," offering daily wisdom. He dearly wanted to share his love of nature and spiritualism with others.
Don was a seeker-of truth, beauty, and connection. He collected coins, adored his cats, and often sent curious or funny discoveries and music to his family just to make them smile. He persevered through years of back pain with quiet courage and always managed to find humor and wonder along the way.
He is survived by his wife, Kris; his son, Adam; his sisters, Donna and Dee; and his brothers, Michael and Chuck Burns. He was preceded in death by his beloved parents, Dorothy Burns Hey and Donald Hey. The love he shared with his mother remained a guiding light throughout his life, and the personal care and devotion he showed his father in his last years was a testament to his deep sense of family.
He once wrote, "I liked being different-my religion is love and compassion. I cared about the Earth. I loved my brothers and sisters, my wife, Kris, and my son, Adam. Larry was a great friend to me. And I had the best mom ever."
Donations in his memory may be made to Greenpeace, Buddhist temples in Dharamshala, India, or Plum Village in France.
Per his wishes, a memorial service with a natural burial will be held at Honey Creek Woodlands in Conyers, Georgia, where his family will celebrate the peace and wild beauty he loved so much.
He lived with an insatiable curiosity and inspired that same curiosity in others - a quiet legacy that will continue to ripple outward, one story, one photograph, one act of kindness at a time.