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Donald Lewis McDaniel

July 30, 1935 — Jan. 18, 2018

Donald Lewis McDaniel, 82, of Sparks, Nev., had a humble beginning and ending in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where he was born and spent his retirement years. Shortly after his birth, Donald’s parents, Thomas and Susie McDaniel, moved their family to White Sulphur Springs, Mont., where Donald attended grammar school and worked on the family’s ranch.

Donald dropped out of high school after the death of his mother. He said he made the decision at the age of 17 to join the military because he needed a job and was unable to care for his ailing father. He passed the General Education Development (GED) test in 1955, gaining a high school equivalency on his way home from serving in Germany as part of the post-World War II occupation forces. He served as a utility clerk for the U.S. Army, from 1953 to 1955. Despite his expert marksmanship training, he said his ability to type probably saved him from a combat tour in Korea.

During basic training, Donald had irreversible hearing damage — a disability that would define his personality. He avoided large social settings due to his inability to hear in a crowd. Hearing aids only compounded the problem. He preferred one-on-one conversations and was an attentive listener.

Donald also chose military service for the promise of higher education. Understanding the demands of manual labor, Donald wanted to pursue a professional career. The GI Bill would help him pay for college. He also worked his way through college as a ranch hand, wildland firefighter and painter. He understood the struggle to afford college, which helped define his career goals later in life.

Donald graduated in 1961 from Western Montana College of Education, in Dillon, Mont., with a Bachelor of Science in secondary education and a major in industrial arts. He studied industry and hoped to improve worker safety; he worked undercover in a sawmill while he did his thesis.

After graduation, Donald worked as a high school counselor, in Salmon, Idaho, and moved on to become a consortium counselor in eastern Montana, until 1964.

Donald married Dorothy Kneeland, in 1962, in Dillon. They welcomed their first child, Karen, in 1963. Donald graduated in 1964 from Arizona State University with a master of arts degree in guidance and counseling.

The couple moved to Sidney, Mont., where Donald worked as a high school guidance director. Their second child, Bruce, was born in 1966, before Donald moved on to teach engineering and architecture and serve as the director of student services at Dawson College in Glendive, Mont.

With their youngest child, Lorna, (born in 1969) in tow, Donald moved his family to Glasgow, Mont., to pursue work as a career education planner.

In 1970 he received training in student financial aid at Dawson College, which shaped the rest of his career. Donald spent the next 22 years working in financial aid with the University of Montana in Missoula, and then the University of Nevada, in Reno and Carson City, Nev.

Donald retired from Western Nevada College in 1994 and was named professor emeritus. He had spent his career serving others to help better themselves through education.

Retired, Donald returned to Coeur d’Alene, where he lived for 18 years in a cabin he called his “Sylvan Sanctuary.”

In 2013, Donald left his Idaho sanctuary and move back to Reno, because of his deteriorating health. He died on Jan. 18, 2018, in the hospital surrounded by his family.

An informal memorial is planned for Aug. 3-4, 2019, in Coeur d’Alene, at a location to be determined. Call Lorna at 775-677-8951 if you would like to honor his memory.