Don Warren Churchill

September 15, 2022

Charleston, West Virginia

Funeral arrangement under the care of
Barlow-Bonsall Funeral Home

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Don Warren Churchill

September 15, 2022

Charleston, West Virginia

Don Warren Churchill Obituary

Playmate of most of the neighborhood children, sand lot sportsman of any sport, stock boy and window washer in Seattle, Washington; summer hitchhiker from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin to Idaho, later to Arizona to work for the U.S. Forest Service in anticipation of becoming a smoke jumper; finder of lifelong friend Bill Morris, every-possible-day-avid-ten-mile-out-to-the-island-and-back swimmer and would-be-sailor once rescued by the Coast Guard in Lake Michigan two blocks and a cliff from home; undergraduate student and alumnus of Lawrence College in Appleton, WI; A & P grocery summer peddler in rural Iowa; student of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, occasional preacher at a local Universalist church, side tripper in pathology, finder of a lifelong friend in Tony Parise, and holder of a license to practice medicine all in Madison, WI; husband of Lee Caldwell and father of Andrew Caldwell, intern here and there, resident in Child Psychiatry in Cincinnati, father of John Alexander, physician in practice Lt. Commander Dr. Don W. Churchill at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, father of David Alan; Professor of Psychiatry and researcher at the Institute of Psychiatric Research at Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN with co-director Marian DeMyer, MD pioneering and laying the complex foundational ground work for others who would go on to identify and define the spectrum of autism; learner of how to fly an airplane becoming a licensed pilot; flier of gliders; paddler of canoes on rivers and lakes, in boundary waters, director of the Riley Child Guidance Clinic at Indiana University in Indianapolis; and lastly, observer of God's hand plucking him and some woman from God's dead-dream pile and of God, with a heavy heart and more than a few tears, saying, I will try these two together; thus Don with three teenage boys was wed to Susan and Susan was wed to Don and three teenage boys.

Don and Susan continued their work in Indiana and explored many possibilities together. A decision was made: Let's retire and do some wild and different thing. So, they moved to Sweetland, West Virginia. After morning chores, he studied philosophy, economics, theology, Latin, and Greek. About ten he would set out to labor until nightfall. They restored the farm, built a barn for their animals, created a welcoming home and holler for all comers, young and old. They grew magnificent gardens full of vegetables and fruit. They plowed and tilled with draft horses. They bred, raised, and trained Border Collies. They raised rabbits, pigs, and chickens. They milked French Alpine dairy goats. They sheared Suffolk sheep and lambs for wool. At day's end, they were bone tired. He read her books and stories and poems in the evening and she cooked, sewed, painted, and quilted. They continued their work with children: in the schools, along trashy-to-clean roadsides, in the summer at the farm with those visiting or needing watching, tutoring, or therapy. They had a play reading group that met each month at the farm. They sang in ecumenical choirs in Hamlin for the holidays. They got to know all the folks in their holler, in town, and on the other sides of the hills. Each in their own way and time was called to become Roman Catholic.

After 20 years, Don literally wore out his joints and they worked toward selling the farm. That accomplished, they became city people again. Don taught students Latin at the Catholic high schools in Huntington and Charleston. He joined the neighborhood $10 poker group. They read, they played, they went to The Alban Art Center, symphony performances, the Light Opera Guild productions, the Art Walks, the Clay Center, and they bicycled everywhere until they couldn't. They joined Blessed Sacrament Catholic parish and experienced church, faith, mission, service, and family as never before. As he aged in place with Susan, Don's being was centered right there. In the last months of his life, he took to using as metaphor his old airplane term, my final approach. He knew what he wanted and hoped for safe passage and a smooth landing.

They gardened and read and their life and love were said to be inspiring. You know, working in the soil, growing things, tending what one can, seeking wisdom, persistently searching the soul, and trying to understand it all can only feed and grow love if God has his way. Doing these things with others and loving others became their natural way, their first thought. Don loved others, loved learning and learning with others, and teaching others to learn.

In everything he did over his 92 years Don Churchill was known as a person of integrity and good character; he was truthful, kind, genuine, gentle, loving, brilliant, humble, a nurturer, a daring man with his feet firmly planted, profound, witty, playful, full of compassion, a loyal and devoted friend, a gentleman. He always picked up his own trash but other peoples' trash too and without judgment. His influence has been powerful in all of his endeavors. His quest for knowledge, the value of education, care for others, responsibility and honesty, the importance of community, and the impact of giving second chances are lifelong values that others saw him live, admired in him, and tried on for themselves. Don loved the world and its people and gave much in every way to help make it a better place for all.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, Stanley Nelson Churchill and Alice Louise Freeman Michaud; brother, Unee; first wife, Lee Caldwell Churchill; son, David Alan and his unborn child; all of his childhood playmates, his later friends Bill and Tony; and Don would add by his ancient friends like Aristotle and St. Augustine.

Don's death was caused by Parkinson's Disease which had been progressing within him for about ten years.

Don is survived by his wife of 45 years, Susan; his sons Andrew (Jeanne Ryan), John (Robin), and David's wife Marla; grandchildren Eric, Marissa, Grant, Benjamin, Joe; adopted children Eduardo Gonzales and his family, and Phyllis Wood; niece Julie Dorrington (Frank) and their daughter Lisa; and great nephew Nicholas Churchill.

The Blessed Sacrament Church community invites all to services on Wednesday, September 21, 2022: visitation with family and friends 9:30-11:00; Mass of Christian Burial 11:00; and lunch for everyone after the Mass, about noon in the Parish Hall.

Funeral arrangement under the care of
Barlow-Bonsall Funeral Home


Updated by : Susan K. Churchill

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