(1946-2013)

Don did his first YWAM outreach with his wife, Gwen, at the Munich Olympics, on their honeymoon in 1972.

In 1975 he took his wife and 8-month-old son to spend October to December on the Ark in Amsterdam and then to attend a DTS in Lausanne. The outreach at that time was to visit all the places mentioned in the Bible.

Between times of teaching high school Drama and English in Langley, BC, Don and Gwen and their (now) 2 children lived at the YWAM community in Heerde, Holland for a year. They conceived twins during that time, so Don took his family back to Canada and did 2 more years of teaching.

In 1987 Don led his first DTS in BC, as well as leading a Kings Kids team that summer. In all, he provided leadership in Kings Kids for 5 years.

YWAM rented a camp in Winfield, BC to run DTS’s. Don led 10 altogether. His heart was always to mentor young people into intimate relationship with God.

Supporting his family financially was often a challenge, and Don would do many jobs besides substitute teaching to supplement the YWAM support, including being a mall Santa, constructing treehouses and being an online teacher with Heritage Christian Online School. He was very active in the Western Canada Leadership Team in his latter years as well as serving on the YWAM BC Board. At his memorial many young people stood to give testimony to his life-changing influence in their lives.

Don died of a brain tumor 7 months after his diagnosis. He is survived by his widow, Gwen, and their 4 sons, Nathan, Ariel, Christopher and Sean and 10 grandchildren.