Obituary of Don Hannah

JAMES DONALD “DON” HANNAH

August 29, 1944

 

 

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

 

 

Daddy was born in August 1944 to very loving parents and a brother he adored.  He grew up literally across the street from Denny (now Bryant-Denny) Stadium, and thus began his lifelong – and occasionally dismaying – love affair with the Alabama Crimson Tide.  His stories about playing in the graveyard behind Calvary Baptist Church and using free(!) football tickets distributed to neighborhood kids left us with a nostalgic image of the University and a time when things seemed simpler.

 

He attended the University of Alabama for a couple of years before he was drafted into the Army in 1967.  After serving his country honorably, he returned to Tuscaloosa where he met his soul mate and her daughter – soon to become his - in 1972.  His beloved son was born 4 years later, completing a family of love and complexity, with all the hilarity that ensued.

 

In 1981, following the death of his gentleman father, he moved with his family to the Florida Panhandle where he worked in aviation until his retirement in 2013.  He often regaled us with stories of his wonderful coworkers and the adventures they shared.  A few of those years found him in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, years that offered him some hardship and challenge, but that left him with great joy and memories.

 

The greatest twinkles in his eyes were best seen as he spent time with his family celebrating their accomplishments, camping, and watching college football.  But they never shone brighter than when he spent time with his grandchildren:  showing them how to shoot a BB gun, discussing and debating the complicated political history of our country, and demonstrating how to prepare the perfect chili dog.  “Papp” would disappear for hours with one or both of them – and the theme of that time, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” was legend.  He loved all holidays (especially Thanksgiving and all the fixin’s) where we could all come together, and it always took him a day or two to recover when one or more of us returned back to our daily lives.

 

He fought tremendously against the cruel diagnosis he was given, and while the loss of his physical presence leaves us reeling, his spiritual presence brought us, and continues to bring us, much comfort and strength:  his wife of 46 years, Cathy Hannah (Burroughs); his children, Celeste (“Lucy”) Hannah and Matthew Seng, and Zachary and Dory Hannah (Walker); his grandchildren, Conor and Dylan Seng; his sister-in-law, Jane Hannah; his niece, Bonnie Hannah; his beloved cousins; and his dog babies, Lady, Martha, Georgea, and Quincy.

 

And we are comforted in the knowledge that he has joined his beloved parents, Bonnie (Parker) and Harrison (“Papp”) Hannah, and his brother, Bobby Hannah, in a place far better and more peaceful than here.  Certainly, he is playing fetch with Mollie and Emily, and enjoying a Guinness or PBR with the family and friends who awaited him.

 

We will hold a memorial service for him later in the year – please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information at celesteh1971@yahoo.com or zhannah74@yahoo.com.  The family is asking for Don to be remembered with a contribution to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network so that other families will not have to experience our tremendous loss so early.  But we know Daddy would get a kick out of a memorial in his honor to your local NPR station.

 

 

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” (Attributed to Edmund Burke).

 

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