Donald M. Westley

A Celebration of Life will be held from 4 – 7 p.m. Saturday, May 22, 2021 at the VFW in Waupaca. Military honors will commence at 5:30 p.m.

REPRINT FROM MAY 2020:

Donald “Don” Marrell Westley, age 89, passed away on Friday, May 22, 2020, at home, surrounded by his family, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.  He was born in Nelsonville, WI on May 19, 1931, to Marrell and Alma (Lutz) Westley.  Don served our country as an Army Medic during the Korean War.  He married Violet “Vi” Hansen on January 2, 1954 in Scandinavia, WI.  They were married for 65 years. 

In 1955, Don attended sheet metal trade school in Chicago and learned the sheet metal trade “hands on” at Elgin Sheet Metal in Elgin, IL. He and Vi moved to Waupaca in 1968, where they owned and successfully operated Westley Heating and Air Conditioning until he “retired” in 2004. 

Don and Vi loved to travel and they toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States. They wintered in southern Texas with weekly trips into Mexico where Don learned his margarita making skills! Don loved spending time with his family doing fish fry’s, four wheeling and sharing HIS words of wisdom. He also enjoyed the outdoors along with the camaraderie that went with it.  He loved his 40+ years of fishing trips to northern Wisconsin and Canada and his 50+ years of hunting with his dear friends.

He was not one to let any grass grow under his feet!  And he could answer many a question with the wealth of information found in his black calendar book (or as his friends called it, his smartphone) that he carried with him at all times.

Don was an active member of the Waupaca Lion’s Club for 52 years and a lifetime member of the VFW and American Legion.  

He will be dearly missed by his son, Kurt (Karen) Westley of Sheboygan and their children Alex (Brandi) Clauff (daughter, Cecelia) and Emily Clauff (special friend, Ryan Eigenberger); and his daughter, Lisa (Todd) Mallasch of Waupaca and their children, Amanda and Braden Mallasch. He is also survived by a niece, Ann (Nick) Blohm, of Waupaca.

Don was preceded in death by his wife; his parents; Vi’s parents, Arthur and Hazel Hansen; and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Harold “Bud” and Shirley Abrahamson.

In lieu of flowers, memorials would be appreciated for either the Waupaca Lion’s Club, VFW, or American Legion.

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