Donald M. Hewitt, 89, of Grand Marais, died in the hospital in Grand Marais on July 11, 2010.
Born March 22, 1921 in Albert Lea to Arthur and Hazel Hewitt, he graduated from SLHS in 1938 and began college at Albert Lea Junior College. During those Depression years, he was unable to obtain the $50 required to attend his second year.
Don joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and was stationed in Waterville, MN, serving as an orderly in their six-bed hospital. He was chosen, not for his medical knowledge, but his ability to maintain accurate records. In 1939, he and five other CCC boys from Minnesota were selected to enter the U.S. Maritime Service. He was stationed aboard the USS American Seaman in St. Petersburg, Florida.
After about a year at sea, he transferred to the USMS Training Center on Gallop’s Island in Boston Harbor. There he was a Master-at-Arms and taught lifeboat handling and Marlin Spike Seamanship. He eventually transferred to the Great Lakes and signed aboard the flagship of the Pittsburg steamship fleet, the ore freighter SS William Irvin as an able-bodied seaman. He joked about really being an Ancient Mariner with two of his former ships now being maritime museums in Duluth and Mystic, CT. After Pearl Harbor, he went to New Orleans where he served as quartermaster aboard the U.S. Army Transport, USAT Yarmouth. He then attended the USMS Officer Candidate School at New London, CT. After graduation, with honors as an ensign, he taught celestial navigation.
On leave in Albert Lea, he met his bride-to-be, Shirley Prihoda. They were married in New London on August 14, 1943. It was a typical wartime wedding, performed by the Ft. Trumbull chaplain with no relatives in attendance. Their first child, Candace, was born there in 1945.
After WWII ended, Don and two fellow instructors formed Eastern Gulf Trading Co., Inc. With more enthusiasm than capital, they arranged to buy a surplus 119-foot Landing Craft Tank (LCT). They planned to sell appliances and Kaiser Frazer Automobiles in Cuba, transporting them on the LCT. In later years, as Don interviewed for jobs, he enjoyed admitting that his selection as corporation president was the result of a lucky coin toss.
Kaiser Fraser was unable to produce sufficientautos for the market and the grand scheme ended. Fortunately they were able to cancel the purchase of the LCT.
Don and family returned to Albert Lea where Don worked in sales at Queen Stove Works and as a training director of the Albert Lea branch of Wilson and Company. The family moved to the Twin Cities where he worked as an IBM salesman before finding his niche in the 3M company where he worked for 30 years, retiring in 1981 as a marketing communications manager for the international division. He traveled throughout Southeast Asia and on his retirement, he and Shirley took a 38-day trip that included his favorite Asian countries.
After retirement, he and Shirley purchased a motor home and wintered in the southwest for eight years. Tired of all the driving, they bought a winter home in McAllen, TX. For the next 15 years they traveled between their Grand Marais log home and the Rio Grande Valley. Again, tired of driving they sold their Texas home and purchased a Grand Marais condo. Theyjoke about still being snowbirds because they annually travel 12 miles from their cabin to their Grand Marais condo.
During retirement, Don and Shirley enjoyed winter foreign travel, including a 50th wedding anniversary 50-day cruise during which they circumnavigated South America.
Theimportance of a college education was one of Don’s primary concerns, due in part to his own education being interrupted. On their 66th wedding anniversary, their children honored them by endowing a four-year scholarship to Macalester College in St. Paul. Don and Shirley modified the requirements so as to give Cook County graduates first choice.
Physically unable to continue traveling, Don concentrated on hunting, fishing, gardening, and Hewitt genealogy. As he enters his “happy hunting ground,” it is hoped that ducks are flying and that he is able to shoot a limit of green-headed mallards. Or, if the fish are biting, a limit of Lake Superior trout.
There will be no funeral. Instead, immediate family will gather for a memorial when his ashes are buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery on July 22 at 9:30 a.m.
No flowers please. Memorials to the Grand Marais Public Library or of your choice preferred.
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