DONALD (DON) JAMES REDMOND,

Loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, uncle, and friend, passed away peacefully on January 27, 2020, surrounded by family.

Born in Rogers City, Michigan on November 8, 1927, Don graduated high school in 1945 and was certified by the Coast Guard to shovel coal on cargo ships on the Great Lakes. Full of life and adventure, Don and a buddy left Michigan and headed up the Alcan to Alaska, driving a retrofitted Model A ... with no spare tire, sketchy brakes, and the rumble seat removed so they could sleep in it - quite possibly creating the first motor home. After arriving in Alaska, Don enlisted in the Army. Shortly after completing his time in the Service, he met the love of his life; Barbara and they married in 1955. Together they raised five children and enjoyed a life filled with love, laughter, family, friends, fun, and fishing. Don was a carpenter by desire, building four houses - one in Anchorage on Iowa Drive, one in Sand Lake where Don and Barbara raised their kids, one in Wasilla on the Parks Highway - that now houses various businesses, and another in Wasilla off Seward Meridian that is now the Cottonwood Creek Medical Center, plus a log cabin (house) on West Beaver Lake. In the late 60s, Don answered an ad in the newspaper, and ended up spending an entire year working in Saigon, Vietnam as a private contractor for Philco Ford.

Along with building, Don was an auto mechanic, parts expediter, equipment operator, business owner, (DJ's Alaska Rentals), inventor, car salesman, special Ed school bus driver, car collector, woodworker, student pilot, cribbage player, and avid fisherman. He excelled at all of those things, but his greatest achievements in life were his marriage, his family, and his friends. If you ask anyone who knew him, they would tell you he was the kindest, most thoughtful man they'd ever met. He was friends with everyone he met. He never left a hitchhiker stranded and, if you asked to borrow money for food, he would gladly buy you dinner. If you needed work done, he was always there with his tools, ready to lend a hand.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, Nellie and Thomas (Ted) Redmond, his brothers Tom and Harvey (Dick), his sister Jean, and sons-in-law, Roger Woiderski and James Herndon.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara, his children Judith McCall, Penny Herndon, Dennis Redmond (Trish), Patrick Redmond (Vonni), and Kim Redmond (Larry Smith). He is also survived by his cherished grandchildren, Christine Redmond, Kellie Winchester Merrill, Brendan McCall, Casey Konnad, Taila Redmond, Mikey AyAy, Bradley McLeod, Jenna Smith, Peter Smith, Jeffrey Redmond, Katrina Swanson, and many loving great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

In his final days, Don received wonderful and loving care from the medical team at Mat Su Regional Hospital as well as from Ancora Home Health and Hospice and his wife and children.

No services are planned.

ln lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made in Don's name to:

Ancora Home Health and Hospice

2851 E. Palmer-Wasilla Highway, Suites 7 & 8

Wasilla, AK, 99654.

“…and I think to myself, what a wonderful world." ~Bob Thiele, George David