Donald "Don" West

Donald (Don) Richard West…Always in our hearts, forever loved and missed!

Don, 95 years young, passed into the peace of Heaven February 2, 2026, reconnecting with Cricket, his forever love, and wife of 65 yrs, who preceded him in death in 2016.

He was also preceded in death by his parents, Pauline Conrad West and F. Nat West; brother, Robert (Bob) West; sister, Jean Duggins Shapiro; and granddaughter Amanda Gayle Pope. Those left behind, who were lucky and truly blessed to have him in their life: 4 daughters: Donna Konkler, Robin Reid (Blake), Kim West (Gail), and Janice Mendek (Steve); 3 grandchildren: David Konkler Jr (Steph), Heather Huels (Mike), and Dustin Craven (Kelsey); 2 great-granddaughters: Sydney and Savannah Konkler; numerous nieces, 1 nephew, and a number of ‘granddogs’ and ‘great granddogs’.

Don and Cricket met at Reynolda Presbyterian’s Youth Fellowship when they were just 16. He married Cricket in 1951 and after graduating from college, started his career, then a family. Little did Don know then he would be surrounded, supported and loved by girls the rest of his life when 4 daughters were born to the family.

Don graduated from RJ Reynolds High School in 1948, where he was a member of the tennis team, the National Honor Society and was an honor graduate. He followed that with 4 yrs at NC State University (go Wolfpack!), graduating with honors in 1952 with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree and membership in the honors and mechanical engineering chapters of Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma.

Don enjoyed a very productive career starting first with Western Electric, working on military radar systems; then on to Bell Labs where he worked on deployable antennae for spy satellites, airborne antisubmarine warfare (deploying a sonar buoy network from the Virgin Islands), cellular phone systems, and software for Nike X missiles (once used to intercept long range missiles) until his retirement in 1975; and finally to the equipment division of Krispy Kreme, helping to design and maintain those wonderful doughnut making machines, as well as planning and implementing the equipment setup of new stores. He retired from Krispy Kreme in 1994 as VP Equipment Engineering Technologies.

Following retirement, Don spent time following orders from his ‘new boss’ (Cricket), including crafting, woodworking, house remodeling, and landscaping. As Cricket’s health declined from vascular dementia, Don lived the vow of ‘in sickness and in health’, tending to her daily at home until her needs required more than he could handle. After Cricket was moved to assisted living, a tough decision for Don, he visited with her daily until her passing.

Family time was most important to Don. Family trips to Sunset Beach twice a year became the norm. And any occasion, be it birthdays, Friday nights, national holidays, Thanksgiving or Christmas was good for family gatherings, always including food and fun!

The family would like to thank the staff at Kate B Reynolds Hospice Home for their gentle caring assistance over the last few months; as well as the team at Bermuda Village Batangas during his final days.

A Memorial Service will be held at 6:00PM, Friday, February 6, 2026 at Hayworth-Miller Kinderton Chapel, Advance, NC, with visitation immediately following the service. Interment will be at 11:00AM the following day in Westlawn Gardens of Memory, Clemmons, NC. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials in Don’s name be made to Trellis Supportive Care, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem, NC.