Donald Clyde Ewing

Donald Clyde Ewing was born in Bemidji Minnesota, on December 10, 1928.  As a young child he was sent to live with his grandparents on their farm. In addition to earning his keep on the farm, Don worked part-time at Gambles Store for 35¢/hr. The lessons of hard work and thrift from those childhood years stuck with him the rest of his life.

When Don was seventeen, he was determined to enlist before the expiration of the GI bill so that he could afford to go to college.  He successfully tested early out of high school and joined the US Army Air Corp one month before the eligibility for GI bill benefits lapsed.  His time with the Air Corp took him far from his roots in Minnesota – traveling from San Antonio to Spokane to Guam to Hawaii and lastly to Washington D.C.  His work, in particular, preparing Operational Readiness Charts for the fighter wing helped ignite his lifelong interest in airplanes and design.

When Don’s three-year stint in the Air Corp was completed, he started classes at Superior State College - studying physics and math. After his third year of classes, Don met and married Lorie Brownlee.  For their honeymoon they drove across the country, and whilst in Seattle, Don saw an advertisement for a position at The Boeing Co..  He interviewed that day and started as a Junior Engineer the next week.  Don ended up finishing his engineering degree nine years later, going to school at night while working full time.  He graduated just after their fifth, and youngest, child was born. Ten years later, he earned his Professional Engineering License.

Don remained at Boeing for the totality of his career and he worked on many of the Boeing’s iconic projects during his 43 years.  He started out designing the B-47 and B-52, then had a series of five-year stints on the Minuteman, Saturn V, SST, 707, 727, 737 and 747.  He ended his career as a Structures and Power Plant Designer on the 737 next generation airplanes.  Don was especially proud of his work on the Saturn V rocket; charged with helping to design a stronger, faster spacecraft that ultimately landed men on the moon.

Together, Don and Lorie raised five children; daughter, Sandy, and four sons, Mike (Cyndi), Dave (Diane), Jon (Vivian), and Pat (Karen).  When Don was not at work, their Fairwood home was often the family gathering spot for extended family, especially after Lorie’s mother Dotsy came to live with them.  Over the years, there were many, many cookouts at their home, with plenty of marinated flank steak, baked beans and shrimp pasta salad; often topped off by a rousing game of cards. Don also assisted the Boy Scout troop for many years as his four boys went through scouting. And Don and Lorie made sure to keep in touch with their families back home with their yearly treks back to Minnesota and Wisconsin – notorious for their 4am wake-up calls to get a “jump on traffic.”

In his empty-nester years, Don enjoyed his new found free-time.  He took up bowling, joining Lorie and Dotsy’s bowling league, and Don and Lorie explored many new golf courses around the Pacific Northwest with their son Dave.  Don especially embraced his role as a grandfather - he discovered his talent with fussy grandkids as the “baby whisperer” and he was always ready with his little red wagon for a trip to the park.

With Don no longer working at Boeing, he kept his mind engaged by tracking his investments, calculating the odds of winning Solitaire, and diving into many different areas of research to satisfy his curiosity.  He developed many “out-of-the-box” theories - from postulating that car purchases are optimally based on price per pound to proposing a design for a man-made bridge connecting Alaska & Russia to predicting the future GDP of countries based upon their ratio of arable/non-arable land.  Don especially loved to share his latest data or proposition with his children and grandchildren.

When Don married Lorie, he knew that he was making a commitment to the Catholic church as well.  Staying true to that, they were seen every Sunday, arriving at least ten minutes early at St. Stephen’s - sitting right up front.  So, when Don passed away on May 23, 2021 (at the age of 92), there was some comfort for his family knowing that he’s up in heaven, reunited once again with the love of his life, Lorie.

Donald is survived by his five children, Sandy, Michael (Cyndi), David (Diane), Jonathon (Vivian), Patrick (Karen);his eight grandchildren, Paula (Daniel), Matthew (Darby), Kathleen, Megan, Amanda (Samuel), Michaela (Gavin), Sean, Kelly; and his three great-grandchildren, Galileo, Matteo & Ellie. Don was preceded in death by Loris Katherine, his wife of 67 years; as well as by his mother Helen, father Warren, and sister Ethel.

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