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Obituary
Donald, 95, died January 31, 2021. He, along with his twin brother Dwight was born December 6, 1925, in West Liberty, Ohio. After graduating from Salem H.S. in the spring of 1944, Donald and Dwight joined the Civilian Public Service program for military conscientious objectors in Camp # 4 in Virginia as members of the Mennonite service program. In May 1945, they expressed interest in becoming a smokejumper and were selected to join CPS Unit Number 103-01 and trained to become a smokejumper at Nine Mile, Montana. After training, Donald went to Cave Junction as a smokejumper and Dwight continued as a smokejumper out of Missoula. After smokejumping, they returned to CPS Camp Number 4 and were discharged in March 1946. Donald returned to dairy farming with his brother and father in West Liberty. While his brother gave up farming in 1953, Donald continued and in 1964 was named the Champaign County Conservation Farmer of the Year. In 1986 Donald retired from farming and moved to the town of West Liberty and started working at the local lumber company, finally retiring in 1998. However, in 2001 Donald began helping his brother, Dwight in his toyshop making wooden toys. Donald married Annabelle Shumaker in 1947 and they have three daughters. Annabelle passed away in December 2014.
Identifier
Hostetler_Donald-Floyd_Cave-Junction_1945
Publication Date
November 2022
Keywords
Smokejumping; Smokejumpers -- United States; National Smokejumper Association; Wildfire fighters; Obituaries
Disciplines
Forest Management
Recommended Citation
National Smokejumper Association, "Smokejumper Obituary: Hostetler, Donald Floyd (Cave Junction 1945)" (2022). Smokejumper Obituaries. 1571.
https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_bios/1571
