Donald M. "Sgt Grit" Whitton

Donald Michael Whitton passed away at his home, surrounded by family, on July 2, 2025. He was a husband, father, brother, 'Sarg,' friend, Marine, and 'Sgt. Grit' to many. He was so loved.
Don was born August 26, 1949 in Oklahoma City to Dr. Randel F. Whitton and Joan Whitton. He graduated from Classen High School in 1968 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
He served as a radio operator with the 11th Marines, stationed outside of Da Nang in Vietnam from 1968-1971 earning the nickname "Sgt. Grit." As Don told it, "I'd like to say it was my John Wayne persona, but it was really because I was an Okie."
He married his wife of 46 years, Sherre Jill, in 1979. He loved her fiercely, and together, they had many adventures and two girls, Sarah and Megan, who completed 'The Kluckmeisters.'
Along the way, Don and Sherre founded Sgt. Grit Marine Specialties, which began with one t-shirt and became the largest Marine Corps purveyor in the world. He loved being teased
mercilessly by his employees. Running 'Grit' was one of his proudest achievements. He sold the business in 2016 and retired to Grand Lake, Oklahoma with Sherre.
Don loved Sherre's chocolate chip cookies, scuba diving in Little Cayman, and taking naps almost anywhere. With two daughters, he always joked that he'd been to more operas, ballets, and Celine Dion concerts (8) than any respectable Marine should have. He loved us, and that was just one of the many ways he showed it.
Don and Sherre enjoyed taking long road trips where he never hesitated to turn the car around when Sherre spotted an antique or junk store calling her name. They also loved Jeeping in Colorado, hiking the Grand Canyon, and visiting their children and grandchildren wherever the wind took them.
His family can still pick out the moments Don would jump, cackle, or call out "That's good," in his favorite movies. He never passed up a penny on the ground (a trait his grandson, Jude, carries on). And he had a singing voice so legendarily bad that folks in church would turn around and stare.
He (almost) never met a chai tea latte he didn't like, and was a regular at East Side Coffee in Vinita. He loved taking his grandchildren out on the boat and to Disneyland where he always volunteered to ride the teacups and rollercoasters with them.
He was a wanderer, traveling extensively to Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Yemen, Morocco, and Australia. He never crossed the Cimarron River without exclaiming how beautiful it was, and he believed the "healing waters of Lake Texoma" could fix anything that ails you. Don was immensely proud to be an Okie and could never quite exhale until he was under the wide-open Oklahoma skies. He was so proud to see his Thunder win Oklahoma's first NBA Championship.
He is survived by his wife, Sherre of Langley, Oklahoma, his daughters, Sarah Corstange of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Megan Prater (and her husband JD) of Santa Cruz, California, his sisters, Susan Waite (and her husband Kirk) and Ginger Sherman, his niece and nephews, Mandy Young, Chase Waite, and Alex Sherman of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and his grandchildren, Isaac Corstange, Henry Corstange, Jude Prater, and Evie Prater. He's also survived by his brothers from the 11th Marines, Goog, Hunts, 'Dirty Dick,' Knavel, Schamus, Haney, Helmers, and Partridge.
Thank you for being a part of his very full life. Oorah, Semper Fi, and, as Don would say, "For cryin' out loud." We'll love you and miss you forever, Dad.
The celebration of life will be held on Saturday, July 12, 2025, from 2-4 p.m. at the Burckhalter-Highsmith Funeral Home Chapel in Vinita. The military rites will be presented at 2:00 p.m.
Online condolences may be made at www.highsmithfh.com or on the funeral home Facebook page. Arrangements are in the care of the Burckhalter-Highsmith Funeral and Cremation Services of Vinita. "Vinita's only locally family owned and operated funeral home."