Don died March 27, 2014, from complications of a fractured hip.
Don grew up in South Orange, N.J. He enlisted in the Navy, became a pharmacist’s assistant, and was recognized by his commander as a prospect for college. The chance to go to Princeton was a dream come true for Don and his family.
He received his degree in 1947 and then entered Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he graduated in 1950. After receiving his master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins, Don became the first senior resident in aviation medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center in 1956.
When Don was offered a position at Boeing as head of the medical division of its aerospace program, he and his family moved to Washington State. Don was instrumental in developing commercial-airline safety features, including the overhead oxygen mask used when the cabin pressure drops. He was also Boeing’s lead physician in its collaboration with the manned space program.
After retiring, he and his wife, Barbara, moved to Ellensburg, Wash., where he continued raised-bed gardening. While there, he caught a 54-pound trophy salmon on the Kenai Penisula in Alaska.
Don is survived by his children, Glen, Paul, and Susan. Barbara died Dec. 15, 2014.