James Donald Westerfer

James Donald (Don) Westerfer, of Lafayette Hill, passed away on Thursday, March 23, 2023 surrounded by his family. He was 87 years old. Born in Philadelphia, Pa., he was the son of William and Catherine (nee Schwartz) Westerfer. Don is predeceased by many of his siblings; Catherine, Bill, Norbert, Nancy, Patricia, and Elaine.
Don is survived by his loving wife Dyane (nee Drum) Westerfer, his children Shawn Westerfer (Roseanne), Shane Westerfer (Theresa), and Lance Westerfer (Karen), his seven grandchildren Cassianna, Chloe, Shawn, Diana, Shane, Owen, and Emily, and his siblings Gary, Irvin, Stephen, David, Linda, Johnny, Marylou, Philip, and Dirk.
Don was passionate about many things and was full of life. He was always at peace in the woods, he spent as much time as he could surrounded by the trees and creeks. He believed in the healing powers of nature and drank water from a natural spring he kept secret from the rest of the world. He fed the birds religiously and hated squirrels, but always made sure not to harm them, as he was an animal lover at heart.
Don loved America dearly, he was a Veteran of the US Army and proud to serve his country. He went through basic training at Fort Dix in New Jersey and even got to interact with Elvis Presley. Don was ecstatic to be stationed only one state over, as it let him come home every weekend to be where he always really wanted to be - with his family.
Don was a Class A machinist, and most of his life was spent at Wall and Ochs optical. We coined him the "Master modifier" and he loved his nickname. There is nothing Don could not fix. Throughout the years he was presented with many watches with movement pieces out of line, jewelry needing replacement clasps, and gameboys that needed new battery packs. He immediately took to working on them, and always, always fixed them with a smile (but maybe also a few curses - depending on how small the pieces were).
He loved tinkering, crosswords, western books and cowboy movies. He was the proud keeper of "The Collection", a room filled with anything and everything that brought Don joy. But truly, he loved nothing more than spending time with his family, especially Dyane. The two met in Roxborough as teenagers, and later enjoyed 63 years of marriage. Don was phenomenally proud of his three sons, and adored his grandchildren.
To many, he was known as "Papa Don". He accompanied his grandkids on field trips, after which students would approach his grandkids and tell them "Your grandpa is so COOL", which made him beam with pride. He was a jokester, and even if his jokes didn't always land, he never stopped trying to rework the material to appeal to us. Don had an affinity for colored aviators, snap button shirts, and was NEVER without his signature handkerchiefs. You could tell him from a mile away - unless we were at Shady Maple, where his avant garde fashion choices had clearly caught on.
Don loved poker, and played frequently at the township hall when they would host. He made sure to pass on the tips and tricks of card-playing to any grandkids that would listen. Billiards was also a mainstay at the house, once he had secured a great deal on a pool table and brought it home with no plan on where to put it. Horseshoe stakes were placed in the ground at both the Lafayette Hill residence and the shorehouse in the Villas so Don never had to go without. He passed those skills down too, and never turned down a game of pool when someone offered, especially the grandkids. When we were young, Don loved to play us in checkers, and then eventually chess when we were deemed good enough at the basics to move on. Always true to character, he never let us win. As such, he managed to produce a few seriously strong chess contenders, a fact that always brought him great joy.
His grandkids always said that the world is full of grandfathers, and they may even have grandpas still around, but they only had one Papa Don. The world will only ever have one Papa Don - and how much brighter the world is to have had him.
He will be missed by so many extended family, but his MANY stories will live with all of us forever. He is at peace now. He always said "I TOLD YOU I WAS SICK". This time he was right! Don would want us to laugh, and smile and tell his stories, so that is what we will do.
Relatives and friends are invited to Don's Celebration on Thursday, March 30th, 2023 from 7:00pm until 9:00pm at the Boyd Horrox Givnish Life Celebration Home, 200 W Germantown Pike, Norristown, PA 19401. There will be a second visitation on Friday, March 31st, 2023 from 9:00am until his Funeral Mass at 10:30am at St. John the Baptist Church, 119 Rector St, Philadelphia, PA 19127. Don's Mass will be Livestreamed:https://youtube.com/live/N19I0A4xIxg?feature=share
In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to the ASPCA or Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Disease.