Donald Reynold Stepan

Obituary of Donald Reynold Stepan Please share a memory of Donald to include in a keepsake book for family and friends. View Tribute Book Donald Reynold (Donnie) Stepan went home to be with his Lord and Savior on August 9th, 2025 at the age of 81. He was born on February 28th, 1944 in Hempstead, TX, the son of John and Lily Stepan who preceded him in death. Donnie went to Waller schools, graduating in 1962. He attended Blinn College for one year before joining the U.S. Army. While in the Army, he served in the Signal Corps for 3 years, travelling to Louisiana, Georgia, and South Korea. Donnie and Martha Milam were married on February 6th, 1966 at the First Methodist Church in Waller, TX. After completing his military service in 1967, he apprenticed and then worked as a pipe fitter in Houston, TX out of Pipefitters Local 211 until 1975. Donnie then worked with this brother, Billy Stepan, starting in 1975 learning the vending business. He formally bought a portion of the business, which included schools in the Aldine school district, in the fall of 1975. Known as the "Candy Man", he continued in this career until selling the business back to his brother in 2001. He then went back to pipefitting until 2004 when he retired and moved to Canyon Lake, TX. He and Martha remained there until 2023 when they moved to Houston, living there until his death.Donnie loved golf, traveling, cooking, dancing, and eating out. His two favorite places in the world were Paris, France and Santa Fe, New Mexico. There was nowhere he liked to golf more than in the cool, crisp air of Santa Fe. He and Martha took more than 10 trips to Paris over his lifetime, often staying for weeks at a time near the Eiffel Tower. Also, he enjoyed trips to Germany, Italy, Switzerland and, of course, many trips to Washington state to visit his grandchildren. Starting when his son was in college, he enjoyed having tailgate parties and going to the University of Texas football games. He was also proud to be a god-parent to his nephews Derrick Stepan and Chris Stepan.He was preceded in death by his twin brother David, his brothers Allen and Clarence and his sister Dolly, his nephews Doug Stepan, Eric Greene and Clifford Hoff and his nieces Diana Stepan and Brenda Mize. Also preceding him in death were his in-laws Victor and Opal Milam.He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Martha Karen, his son D. and wife Amy and five grandchildren – Sabriel, Xander, Sebastian, Aurelia, and Quentin. He is also survived by his brothers Dan, Roy and Billy (Kathy), sister Betty Jean Hoff (Herman) and brother-in-law, Victor Milam (Pat) and sister-in-law, Donna Morgan.Donnie passed after a short illness from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a very rare and quickly degenerative neurologic disease involving proteins in the brain.Services will be held at Clayton Funeral Home in Pearland, TX on August 20th, 2025 at 1 PM. Immediately following the services, there will be a celebration of life at the Pearland Knights of Columbus Hall at 2320 Hatfield Road. In memory of Donnie, donations may be made to the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation (www.cjdfoundation.org) or Houston Hospice (www.houstonhospice.org).Donnie was a loving, caring and generous man who almost never told his loved ones the word "no" to anything they wanted. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.