Donald Vernon Hummel

1937 - 2024

Donald Vernon Hummel

September 9, 1937 - June 27, 2024

Fair Oaks, California - Don was born in the farming community of Chatsworth, Illinois, where he spent his early life being reared in the farm life, as in those days, everybody pitched in. The measure for driving a tractor was not so much age, but when a person was tall enough for the foot to safely reach the clutch of the tractor.

Don followed his older sister Gail to Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where he majored in pre-med. Later, he was accepted to medical school at University of Illinois in Chicago, graduating in 1962.

Don decided to "go west" and accepted an internship at Los Angeles County Hospital. At the end of the internship, Don was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent the next year in Vietnam. His duties there included supporting advisors in I Copr (Quang Tri and Hue) along with helping set up medical clinics in the small town of hamlets (Medical Civic Action).

Don spent the second year of army service at Fort Ord in Monterey, where he was assigned to an orthopedic surgery clinic. From there he was accepted to the University of California Orthopedic Surgery Program, graduating in 1969.

Don met Mary Jo Downey in Monterey and they married in July 1965. They ultimately settled in Sacramento in 1969, where he continued with private practice, retiring in 2003.

Don loved all about outdoor activities including golf, hunting, fishing and walking along the American River.

He loved his family and all of their activities.

Survivors include: siblings Boyd Hummel and Joyce Ritchie; his two children, Matt and Kate; son-in-law Stephane.

Services will be held on Thursday, 11 July 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Faith Lutheran Church, 4000 San Juan Avenue Fair Oaks, California 95628. A celebration of life will also be held with the family in September in Illinois.