THOMAS ELBRA DONALDSON, 62

(veteran)

Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 23 at the Blair Cemetery for Thomas Elbra Donaldson, 62 who died September 10, 1990 at his home in Ontario, California. Memorial services were held at the Ontario Elks lodge BPOE No. 1419 in Ontario, California September 14, 1990.

Thomas Elbra Donaldson was born in Genoa, Nebraska to Doris and E. A. Donaldson January 13, 1928. In 1938, he moved to Blair where he attended junior and senior high school and lived there until 1942 when he hired on as a deck hand on a tow boat named the “Minnesota Husky.”

The tow was made in Blair and formally commissioned there. After three months he began training as a machinist and remained aboard the tow for two years.

In September, 1945, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He took boot training in San Diego and was then assigned to the engine room and later earned the rank of Machinist’s mate third class.

During this enlistment he made seven cruises starting from San Diego and traveling through the Canal Zone towards Boston Naval Yard in Massachusetts. He was assigned to the European Theatre which took him to Gilbraltar, Greece, Crete, France, Italy, Turkey, Malta, Egypt, Algiers and the surrounding countries and islands.

He participated in the decommissioning of the USS Dayton in January, 1949 at Boston Naval Yard and was discharged that same month. He then enlisted in the United States Air Force Reserve in April, 1949 and as a civilian was employed by the Kelly Ryan Equipment Company in Blair.

In October, 1950, he was recalled to active duty and was assigned to the military air transport service at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. After his discharge from active duty, he re-enlisted in the reserve from which he was discharged in November, 1955.

During his reserve years, he worked for the Denver-Chicago Trucking Company. In 1959, he was transferred to the Los Angeles based terminal. He drove over a million accident free miles in the 28 years he worked for them.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings and leaflets on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~

FindaGrave # 11762496