DONALD LEE FITZWATER

1937 - 2020

Donald Lee Fitzwater, 82, of Santa Clarita, California passed away peacefully on July 10, 2020, surrounded by his family at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital located in Valencia, California, after a battle with the virus known as COVID-19 and a subsequent stroke.
Don was born on September 24, 1937, to Carl Francis Fitzwater and Harriet Naomi Wiles at General Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a descendant of American Revolutionary War Patriot Thomas Fitzwater of Pennsylvania. Don married Betty "Elizabeth" Marie Besanceney on August 4, 1956, at St. John the Baptist Church in Harrison, Ohio, where Betty grew up. He and his wife would have had seven children; however, their first child was stillborn. He received his California High School Certificate of Proficiency in 1991.
As a very young man in Ohio, he completed an apprenticeship and became a journeyman painter, but was a master craftsman in many trades including mechanical, electrical, carpentry, plumbing, and HVAC. They moved to California in 1960, where he would work as a handyman and painter for the apartment complex they lived in and then later as a Maintenance Supervisor for San Fernando Electric Company from 1962 to 1987. They moved to the Santa Clarita Valley in 1967, where he would work as a Facilities Supervisor for AVX Filters Corporation from 1987 until his retirement.
Don's greatest passion was for flying and all things aviation. When he was younger, he was a member of a flying club and loved flying small, personal aircraft such as the Cessna 172 or American Champ Citabria. He also loved bowling, playing tennis, and golfing with his father-in-law Ed Besanceney. He enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, traveling, playing games of chance, and telling jokes. He was extremely hardworking and generous, often taking in people who fell on hard times, as well as many, many pets at the multiple requests of his children.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Betty, his parents, Carl and Naomi Fitzwater, his older brothers David Thomas Fitzwater, Carl Stanley Fitzwater, Richard Paul Fitzwater, Harold "Butch" Arthur Fitzwater, and Robert Francis Fitzwater, his older sisters Grace Lucille Fitzwater, Joan Marie Fitzwater, Dorothy Vivian (Fitzwater) Dickman, and Alice Naomi Fitzwater, and his daughter, Paula Sue Fitzwater, stillborn on September 10, 1957.
He is survived by his son Edward Francis and his wife Jennifer (Huber) Fitzwater of Fort Worth, Texas, his son David Wayne and his wife Sandra (Otero) Fitzwater of Castaic, California, his daughter Donna Marie Fitzwater of Santa Clarita, California, his son Anthony Lee and his wife Caryn (Silverman) Fitzwater of Stevenson Ranch, California, his daughter Christine Louise (Fitzwater) Kurano and her husband James Yukihisa Kurano of Ontario, California, and his daughter Jennifer Leigh Fitzwater of Santa Clarita, California.
He is survived by eleven grandchildren Sunny Leigh Fitzwater, Amber Rose (Fitzwater) Cornell, Jason Nathaniel Fitzwater, Cynthia Ann Fitzwater, Matthew Ryan Fitzwater, Sara Nicole Fitzwater, Branden Lee Fitzwater, Gaetano Joseph Ferrera, Jessica Nicole Fitzwater, Ryleigh Jolie Fitzwater, and Eden Elizabeth Fitzwater, four great-grandchildren Laila Grace Cornell, Brielle Rae Cornell, Aryn Elizabeth Fitzwater, and Maddox Matthew Chaffee, four step-grandchildren Jacob Joseph Kott III, Ashley (Kott) Garbutt, Jacob Johnson, and Benjamin Johnson, and six step-great-grandchildren, Aurora Garbutt, Lillian Garbutt, Killian Garbutt, Roslyn Garbutt, Brianna Kott, and Kinsely Kott.
Don's family has had an outpouring of love and support and are very grateful. If you wish to make donations on his behalf, please donate to the American Heart Association or American Diabetes Association.
Cremation and interment will be at Eternal Valley Memorial Park. A Celebration of Life will be planned at a future date.