Donald A. Veloon

Port Washington resident Donald A. Veloon loved the wild blue yonder so much so he earned his pilot’s license and built his own plane.
    “That was his pride and joy,” his niece Rae Veloon said. “He built it with his own two hands out of a Volkswagon engine.”
    Mr. Veloon and his newly built plane were featured in the Ozaukee Press in the 1970s when he took his first ride in it, his niece said.
    Mr. Veloon was so taken by the skies that he fashioned a career out of his interest.
     He attended Milwaukee School of Engineering, where he earned a technical degree in electronics, then held engineering positions with several aerospace companies in California and Maryland.
    Mr. Veloon died Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Cedar Springs Health and Rehabilitation in Cedarburg. He was 89.
    He was a native of Bayview, born on Dec. 3, 1928, to Christ and Leokadia Syperko Veloon.
    When he was young, his family moved to the Port Washington-Grafton area. He was a graduate of Grafton High School.
    Mr. Veloon served in the U.S. Army from 1951 until 1953.
    After he retired, he returned to Port Washington to be near family.
    “He was an intellectual,” his niece said. “He liked going to the library several times a week. He loved keeping up with things, and he loved history.”
    Her uncle was a very private man, she added, and a minimalist.
    “He didn’t believe in a lot of material extras,” she said.
    He enjoyed playing cards and traveling, she added, noting he spent winters in Apache Junction, Ariz., for years.
    Mr. Veloon is survived by his brothers, Elmer and Melvin and his sister Gloria Schwengel.
    He was preceded in death by his brother Robert, sisters-in-law Delores Veloon, Dorothy Veloon and Elnora Veloon and brother-in-law Armin Schwengel.
    A funeral service for Mr. Veloon was held Saturday, Dec. 9, at Eernisse Funeral Home, Port Washington, with the Rev. Paul Reede officiating. Full military honors followed the service.
    Burial was in Immanuel Cemetery, Cedarburg.
    Memorials to the Salvation Army are suggested.