Don Berry April 11, 1953 – January 13, 2022

Don Berry crossed over while coming home from a last great-outdoors adventure, crabbing offshore in Newport, Oregon.

Don was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, to Earle and Jean Berry. He was raised on a farm in Michigan, where he learned to fish and hunt, his life-long passions. Following high school, he attended Adams State University in Colorado and Universidad de las Americas in

Mexico.

In 1983, in Denver, where he was a counselor at a county center for the disabled, Don met Barbara Wilhelm, a supervisor at the facility. “He followed me home and never left,” according to Barbara. They married in 1985 in Redstone,

Colorado.

After four years in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, the couple moved to Santa Fe, where Don became an auto salesman, a career that supported the enthusiastic, friendly man for most of his life. His favorite job, however, was back in Colorado, where he had once been a “hot air balloon chaser” in a summer job.

Four more years found Don and Barbara on the road again to Eugene, Oregon, in an old ’73 Winnebago. He wanted to live where he could catch salmon. Another four years passed before the couple uprooted one last time to move to their “cabin in the mountains” in Tollgate, where they have resided since.

As Barbara taught art and painted, Don transferred from cars to recreational vehicle sales in 2000, beginning at Big Country RV and finishing at All Seasons RV and Marine.

His life was filled with fishing and hunting. As a couple, the Berrys were often at a site where Don fished or hunted while his wife sketched and painted landscapes and wildlife. Their huskies were always along. He was a man very proud of his wife’s success in her paintings and other artistic endeavors.

Don also easily developed friendships with like-minded hunters and fishermen. His free days were spent on fun adventures with a wide selection of friends, whether or not any game was tagged or bagged. One of these friends, thinking of Don, said, “There’s a special place in Heaven for hunters and fishermen.”

Don is survived by his wife, Barbara; mother, Jean; brother, Doug; sister, Linda Maycroft; and stepdaughter, Kris Schuler; along with Nikki and Aki, the family dogs.

A celebration of life will be held in April.