Donald James Lanpher
September 16, 1928 — March 25, 2016
Donald James Lanpher, 87, of Rock Island, formerly of Moline, IL, died Friday, March 25, 2016, at Silver Cross Health and Rehabilitation, Rock Island, IL.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, April 4, 2016, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 4107 21st Avenue, Moline. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 3, 2016, at Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd., 6601 38th Avenue, Moline. Burial will be at the National Cemetery at the Rock Island Arsenal where military honors will be conducted by the Moline American Legion Post 246. Memorials may be made to Holy Cross Lutheran Church.
Donald was born on September 16, 1928, in Grand Rapids, MI, the son of Gerald and Marian Tow Lanpher. The family eventually moved to East Moline, IL and Donald graduated from United Township High School in 1946. He married Jean Eileen Pulliam on December 10, 1949, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Rock Island.
Donald was a veteran, serving in the United States Marine Corps from 1952 to 1954. He retired from the U.S. Department of the Army after 37 years of service in 1983, having risen from a machinist’s apprentice to a chief in the Maintenance Directorate at the U.S. Armament Command at the Rock Island Arsenal.
Donald was a talented woodworker who loved working on his projects in his shop in the basement. He was a mechanic for a short time in the years after high school and he maintained his fascination with cars throughout his life. One of his favorite activities was to scour the Midwest with his wife on the hunt for their antique collection. He was very active in the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, Blackhawk Chapter 338.
He also served as an elder in the congregation at Holy Cross Missouri Synod Lutheran Church in Moline.
Survivors include his daughter, Katherine Lanpher, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and two grandsons, John Lanpher of Lapwai, Idaho, and Jason Lanpher, of Moscow, Idaho.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Jean; son, John Lanpher; brother, Bob Lanpher.
Memories may be shared online by visiting esterdahl.com.