Donald L. WISSING

1935 - 2021

WISSINK, Donald L. December 7, 1935 January 17, 2021 Dad was born on the 7th Of December, 1935 to Lawrence and Teresa Wissink in Chewelah Washington. He was the eldest of three children. Along with sisters Janice and Evelyn, he grew up on a farm south of Chewelah where Lawrence had a herd of dairy cows and farmed several sections of farmland for hay and wheat. He graduated from Jenkins High School in 1953. That is where he met his life's love, Joan Seifried, who was in a class behind him. They began dating and even though Dad had taken a job in Spokane, he found plenty of time and ways to get back to Chewelah to continue to see Joan. They were married on December 27, 1954. Dad worked at several jobs when they were first married, eventually landing at Kaiser Aluminum in Mead where he spent the rest of his working career, eventually retiring from there. Along the way came three children, Steve (Tess), Craig and Kate (Scott). Dad's hobby was his yard and it was his passion. Every year he had a back yard that was the envy of the neighborhood. He grew "thousands of flowers" and finally advanced to the point of having a green house. In addition was a huge vegetable garden many lessons were learned by us weeding all of the above. Dad also really enjoyed traveling as well as having a place at the lake. He and Mom spent about 15 years with a trailer at Waitts Lake and then moved to Deer Lake, Sunrise Point where they enjoyed an additional 30 years. When he wasn't at the lake, he was traveling. He and Mom loved to take off on road trips and they visited all areas of the country. He loved to talk about their travels. During the winter he enjoyed Chiefs Hockey. He and Mom had season tickets for almost 30 years. His greatest achievement is one he personally would never tell you about. He did something I never thought possible, you see, because while I always knew my Dad loved my Mom, as a child you never fully understand the depth of that love. We had the opportunity to watch as Dad stepped into the role of caregiver with our Mom. The last five years of Mom's life were not good and slowly there was no quality of life at all, all the while Dad continued to take on more and more. The challenges were huge. He taught himself how to cook and bake, took on all aspects of keeping a home all the while Mom's personal needs continued to increase. Dad was there for all of it and never once did he complain. When I asked him about things he would say, "I'm ok. My goal is to be able to take care of Mom and do anything necessary, and I pray to God everyday to give me the ability to do so." And he didDad was 81 when Mom went to heaven. It was humbling. Those who are married have said the words, "For better or worse, in sickness and in health," but few, including me, ever really have an understanding of what that really means. Now I do. Dad went to heaven on January 17, 2021. He was ready and he told me so. He had peace about moving to heaven because the last several times we could visit, all he really wanted to talk about was Jesus and his love. Dad and Mom are together again, and had they both lived to this date, would have been married 66 years..He is survived by his three children, 10 grandchildren and 16 great-grand children. A Memorial service will be announced at a later date.