Memorials › Don Powell Gilchrest

Don Powell Gilchrest

5 May 1937 – 1 Apr 2015

Birth5 May 1937
Death1 Apr 2015
Added byAnn Lewis Dickenson on 02 Apr 2015
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144476628

Bio

Don Powell Gilchrest, passed peacefully to his Heavenly Home Wednesday, April 1, 2015, surrounded by family. A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, April 4, 2015, at Harper-Talasek Funeral Chapel in Belton. Don was born in Gatesville, Texas, to the late Lilly Clemons Gilchrest and Harvey Otto Gilchrest. His family moved to Waco when he was an infant. He attended Waco Schools and graduated from Waco High School in 1955. Don joined the U.S. Air Force in 1957 and served the 858th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron in Fallon, Nevada. In December 1959, he married Jean Colson of Waco, Texas, and they celebrated 55 years of marriage in 2014. Don moved his bride to Nevada where their first child, Byron, was born in 1960. After an Honorable Discharge and moving back to the Waco area in 1961 their daughter, Donna, was born. Don worked part-time at Hammond Industry and Alamo Steel while completing his BBA at Baylor University. After graduation, he began his decades-long career in the Steel Fabricating Industry beginning at Central Texas Iron Works in Waco in the Purchasing Department. Later he moved to Houston, Texas, where he joined IKG Industries, a Division of Harsco, and held various positions in Management and Sales and received numerous Outstanding Achievement Awards with the company before retiring in 2003. Immediately after retirement, Don and Jean enjoyed extensive travel up until the time he became ill in February. Don humbly served the Lord, loved and cared deeply for family and all those in his life, worked with integrity, and led by example. Wherever he lived, he served as an ambassador for his community in various ways. He was a leader in United Way efforts, a mentor to youth and a Scoutmaster with Boy Scouts of America with Woodbadge Training, Volunteered in Community Safety with Salado COP, Volunteered with Campers' on Mission, etc. Don also enjoyed God's wonderful creations as an Outdoorsman - hunting, camping, skiing, and marathon training. Don was preceded in death by a brother, R.E. Pete Gilchrest; and a sister, Ruth Gilchrest Mullins. Survivors include his loving wife, Jean Gilchrest, of Salado; son, Byron Gilchrest and his wife, Colleen, of Salado; daughter, Donna Gilchrest, of McGregor; grandchildren: Brittany Sharum and her husband, Clayton, of Fayetteville, AR, Stetson Gilchrest, of Georgetown, and Sharla Gilchrest, of San Angelo; and great-grandchild, Indiana Sharum, of Fayetteville, AR. H18/2

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