Jack Donald Chism, Jr.

Friends called him “Don” and family called him “Donnie,” and in his 79 years of life he was known to fill a room with his personality. Born during WWII and with a father in the Army in Normandy, Don was born on October 5, 1944 in Wichita, Kansas but did not get to meet his Dad until September, 1945 when he had returned.
Don first lived with his mother and her parents at his grandparent’s home in College Hill, then moved to their first home as a family on Parkwood. The stories of that neighborhood are something that 50’s television shows are made of…neighbors who gathered on porches in the evening, children doing bicycle parades in the street and friendships which lasted a lifetime.
After graduating from high school and joining the Air Force to serve in the Viet Nam conflict, Don returned from the war and fell in love with Gwenn Morley. They married in December of 1966 and had three daughters. They lived their entire 57 years of marriage in the Wichita area with the exception of a short work move to Calgary, Alberta in 1973. Don’s work story is one of the American dream. He began in the mailroom at Koch Industries and, eventually, worked his way up to Controller at Koch after attending accounting classes at Wichita State University at night. He loved to talk about the oil and refinery business and used that knowledge as an expert witness at one point.
Don retired early in 1999 to explore other interests and learn as much as he could about everything. He invested in a boat business, studied the financial markets with zeal, he became an expert sailor (with crew Gwenn) at the El Dorado Yacht Club which included many races and travels to sail in other waters, he studied wooden boat building and created a work of art in his garage in a sail worthy wooden boat, he enjoyed real estate and moving to multiple homes in the area, fishing with his father and motorcycles. He and Gwenn followed his parents in joining The Friendship Force where they traveled extensively, staying in the homes of locals as an international exchange program. Around 2004, he decided he was going to learn to paint. He began taking workshops and classes at the Center for the Arts (now the Mary R. Koch Arts Center or MarkArts) and joined the Kansas Art Guild. In the Guild he served as Treasurer, Vice President and President winning multiple awards for excellence in oil and pastel painting. He was notorious for asking questions, loving to learn (especially in color theory) and also loving to teach, but found it difficult to ever really be happy with what he painted. He loved making his fellow artists laugh and kept them entertained which made progress even a bit harder.
In 2012 he contracted kidney cancer which required many trial chemotherapy treatments through M.D. Anderson, but was able to keep the cancer from spreading until recently. The final chemo treatment was too much.
He loved his family very much and would do anything for them. He is survived by his wife, Gwenn Morley Chism, his daughters Julie Chism, Jennifer Graham (Joe) and Laura Long (Michael), his grandchildren Chase, Avery, Jacob (Karen), Layla, Eliza, Maryn and Boston, and his great-grandson Kyler. Also, sisters Marilyn (Bob) and Rebecca (Kevin).
He is preceded in death by his parents Jack D. Chism, Sr and Guelda S. Chism. The family would like to thank those at M.D. Anderson who were able to prolong his life for almost 12 years. 
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Cozine Life Events Center on July 12, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established:

Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice
313 S Market
Wichita, KS 67202

and

NewSpring Church
12200 E 21st St N
Wichita, KS 67206