Donald A. Walen ’47

Many of us will especially remember "Grover" as a fellow V-12er way back in the summer of '43: His bland wit enlivened that brief transitional time in our lives.

Don went on to PTO service and then back to Princeton, graduating and marrying "Tinker" (Elizabeth Buckholz ) in 1949.

Don started his business career as a New Jersey commuter to New York, "peddling rags" for Pacific Mills, later part of Burlington Industries. In 1965 the family, by then including four children, moved to Red Wing, Minn., enjoying the shores of Gitche Gumee and the lore of Hiawatha while Don worked for a tanning firm.

By the 1980s, he and Tinker were in Hanover, Pa.: she breeding Bouvier dogs and he presiding over a venture capital firm operating in the clothing industry. For our 50th, Don reported that he was about to market a "revolutionary machine," capable of rapidly "reducing chunks of ore to powder while using only one moving part." ("No balls at all!" he trumpeted.)

Don died Oct. 4, 2004. We remember him as a droll classmate whose whimsy brought enjoyment to our lives and, no doubt, his. We extend our deep sympathy to Tinker, the children, and grandchildren.

The Class of 1947