Monday, July 23, 2012
Donny and I have known each other our entire lives. We hunted in Northern Michigan; fished the Two Heart River with Jeff and Kitt on the 100th anniversary of Earnest Hemingway's birthday; we duck hunted and shot pheasants in the Thumb. Camped in Michigan, Iowa, Colorado and Wyoming.........we still owe a camping fee in Montana...ha!!
Don and I are tied together by blood, as his mother and my mother are sisters. Through shared experiences, both good and bad..........through disappointment, heart ache, the joy of discovery and the satisfaction of putting some lumber together, we knew what it meant, what it felt like. Don and I both spent time supporting each other through divorce, loss of family members and life choices..............
Don was a giving and generous person to those he knew and trusted. He loved his family and was interested in history............especially the Rupp side of the family. He liked a well-told story; he had no patience for bs. He loved music.........and jazz was his choice; you could tell he was from the South-side of Saginaw as jazz organ was his trip.
I wrote once that Don was born 100 years too late as he could canoe, hunt, fish, trap (remember those ducks he snagged around the camp fire?) and shoot. He looked, acted and thought like a cowboy of the Old West: those men who took your word as your bond; a handshake was as good as a written piece of paper and honor and character was how you were judged.
I will miss Don, like the rest of you will. There are many more stories to tell. As you hear a song by Mike Ridley (about a cowboy who was known as a red-headed stranger), or you brush down a pony, or clear a trap or pluck wild, river-side mint to put in your bag that holds your fresh caught trout............remember Don.
God Bless you Don; a member of the swimming team of Saginaw High; an inventor, a plumber, a fix-it man, a buck sergeant in the Tank Corps in the Army, a lover of the outdoors and an appreciator of art. Don always wanted to be in the front of a canoe because he could then be the first to see what was around the bend. A first class cook; a first class carpenter....you did it all, and with style!!
I learned alot from 'Pink'. He was very patient. He looked for opportunity. Uncle Harley set him up for an appointment to General Motors Institute in Flint on a fast track to become an automotive engineer. He passed on it. He thanked Harley Seaman....his uncle, and went out on his own. He pounded nails in New Orleans for Chet; he busted his knuckle on a job on the Charity Islands in Saginaw Bay. He poured concrete for an ex-con in Denver and he traveled to San Francisco to bid on a job. He taught and mentored his nephew Matt Brown in Texas. Taught him what "no" meant. He spent time with his other boy/nephew, Kitt. How to hold a bead on a rifle; what to do when a client blows up and tries to short change you on a job, etc. Valuable life skills...............
I will remember every January 13th. Your birthday Donny. I miss you already. I can't stop thinking of you. I love you.
Dan........................................
