ontinued to work and intern in college while Roger chipped in for his younger brother's education. In 1966, Don met the love of his life, Paulette Vermeire, a fellow University of Florida grad, when she was 23 and he was 30 years old. Knowing they were soul mates, six months later they were engaged and married on June 24, 1967 at a beautiful church on the water in Palm Beach, Florida He always said moving to Miami, Florida in 1969 was one of the best decisions they ever made where they enjoyed a wonderful life on 84th Avenue. They soon welcomed daughter Sheri in 1971, son Danny in 1973 and blessed with daughter Nicole in 1975. Don and Paulette loved their family, their many pets and their friends. Never a camping trip or summer road trip was missed as he enjoyed traveling along the east and west coast of the country with his family & beloved mother-in-law, Gisele Vermeire. He loved social functions, meeting new people, dancing, swimming, fishing, boating, family get togethers, gardening and an avid reader. His enjoyment of life and selfless giving to others will always be remembered. Don held a variety of engineering, consulting and management positions over 55 years including working for Rocketdyne in California, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, American Hospital Supply and Racal-Milgo in Florida. It was while working in the aerospace industry that he was inspired to apply jet propulsion to water craft and open his own company, Air Ride Craft in the 1980's. He was consistently inventing new ideas and an outside the box thinker who figured out how to make things perform more efficiently and faster with over 50 U.S. and foreign patents in his name. His final work trip was to Dubai in 2012 at the age 76. No one was a stranger to Don for long and as his brother Roger would say, "Donnie you can talk to anyone with a pulse." Most recently, Don lived in his lovely home on a lake with his companion Sharon Fredda in Coconut Creek, Florida. He loved watching the sunset on the lake, feeding the hungry neighborhood ducks, visits from his daughters and grandchildren and adding plants to his garden. One never to miss a party, family and friends had planned on celebrating his 82nd birthday with presents and festivities at his home the day of his passing. He is predeceased by his parents, beloved wife, Paulette, his son, Danny, his loving companion, Sharon Fredda, and his brother Roger. His memory will live on with his daughters, Sheri Burg (her spouse Joe Costa) and Nicole Wien (her husband Josh Wien), his grandchildren Maddie and Alex Wien and sister-in-law, Nancy Burg. We are all very blessed to have had Don in our lives and thank him for his kindness, his generosity and his wisdom. A celebration of his life is planned on Saturday, February 17, 2018 at Horizon Funeral & Cremation Services, 4650 N. Federal Hwy., Lighthouse Point, FL, 33064. Visitation with family will take place at 1 pm followed by a service at 2 pm. Light food fare and refreshments will be provided. Don had a few charities he supported in life, so in lieu of flowers you can donate to one of his favorites. www.wlrn.org http://www.broward.org/Animal/Pages/Default.aspx http://humanebroward.com https://www.worldwildlife.org/