Donald Friedrich

Donald Dean Friedrich Born December 22, 1925 Went to Glory July 15, 2019 Dad was born the first child of Ped and Mary Friedrich, in Walla Walla, Washington on December 22, 1925. He moved with his parents early on to the Hartline, WA area where his grandparents farmed. Later Ped and Mary moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where dad met and stole the heart of a young Mennonite girl Shirley. They were married in a "sneak away" ceremony on December 23, 1945, and returned to Bonners Ferry as a young couple. As Don and Shirley began their family, they moved to Wenatchee where he worked for the railroad as a carpenter building box cars. In his early days there, dad would often tell of a young entrepreneur named Dick Wolf, who would allow him to charge gas for his old Chevy until payday. As recently as a month ago, dad continued to extoll the virtues of Dick, calling him one of the finest men he ever met. Following a stint with the railroad, dad moved back to the Hartline area where he worked the family farm for another nine years. Following this he was employed by first the County Highway Dept. and later the State Highway Department which took him back to Wenatchee and Ephrata. Don and Shirley had four sons, Ron, Dennis, Randy and Mark, with whom dad shared his love of horses, hunting, and flying. In his final days, he love to tell stories of hunting and camping trips with his brother Norman and his boys. Dad loved the outdoors, as well as a bargain purchase he could brag about getting the upper hand in the deal. After retiring in Ephrata, mom and he then moved to Warm Beach where Mom passed away in 2003 . He then found a lady who was a friend of mom and dad, Marge, and they were married at Warm Beach and enjoyed nearly 15 years together. At that time he gained two step children, Carolyn and Don. Dad was a man of integrity, honesty, but most of all, a man of faith. Few times did he end a phone call with his sons without ending it with, "God Bless you." He was an example of faith to his family and those around him. Dad was from a large family that included 5 brothers and 4 sisters. His sisters included Yvonne, Joanne, Marlene and Rhonda, and his brothers were Norman, Bobby, Billy, Gene and Ray.