Date : 17 Mar 2015
Location :
August 29, 1925 - March 12, 2015
Donald Thomas Willson, 89, of Sioux City passed away Thursday, March 12, 2015, at his residence. Memorial Services will be 3 p.m. Tuesday at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Visitation with the family present will be one hour prior to service time at the funeral home. Online condolences may be sent to www.meyerbroschapels.com. Donald was born Aug. 29, 1925, in Sioux City, the son of Gordon and Helena (Hellstern) Willson. He was part of a large close-knit family of four brothers and two sisters. He started school in Sioux City, but finished in Woonsocket, S.D. He served in the Armed Forces during World War II as a Navy Seabee from Aug. 12, 1943, until Feb. 24, 1946. He was stationed on Hawaii and Guam and was part of the Allied Occupational Forces in Japan. He returned home to be a very versatile artist, carpenter, welder, master electrician and home remodeler. He also worked building long-haul trailers for Wilson Trailer Company. He worked with his brother, Jack Willson on many remodeling projects at the Badgerow and Benson Buildings. He owned his own construction company for many years and until his retirement, he worked in construction/maintenance at Sioux Bee Honey in Sioux City. He loved fishing and camping with this family over the years and spending a lot of his younger years visiting his sister and brother-in-law, Carl and Helen Regynsky in Woonsocket. He also loved spending time with his brothers and sisters, taking many camping trips with his brother, Leo Willson to explore Canada and the Southwest. Donald was a wonderful artist, like many of his siblings and members of the Willson family. In 1975 the Sioux City Journal had a contest to submit a rendition of a peace pipe for the new War Eagle monument overlooking Interstate 29 in Sioux City. Out of hundreds of drawings, Don's drawing was chosen. He was also included in the book, "Sioux City A Pictorial History," that was published in 1982. Don retired in 1990, but continued to do many remodeling jobs in Sioux City. He would also joke, "I'm retiring again," but would continue to do electrical jobs, remodeling jobs at many homes in Sioux City and remodeled many offices at the Benson Building. Don was happiest when he was working and had a project to plan for and continued to work until a few months before his death. Donald married Helen Laurene Witte in Sioux City in June 1948. To this union, two sons and one daughter were born, Gary, Jeffrey and Donna. Helen passed away in May 1995. Survivors include his sons, Gary (Cynthia) Willson of Papillion, Neb., Jeffrey Willson of Papillion, Neb., and Donna Willson of Sioux City. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Jeremy (Elle) Willson of Overland Park, Kan., Julie (Jim) Reineke of Omaha, and Mike Willson of Omaha; four great-grandchildren; one sister, Rosemary (Lyle) Grenier of Sioux City; sister-in-law, Doris Willson of South Sioux City; many nieces and nephews; and one special granddog, Maggie. Donald was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; four brothers, Dale, George, Leo and Jack Willson; his sister, Helen Regynsky; and daughter-in-law, Beth Willson.
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