Donald Banka

Donald Clarence Banka was born on June 12, 1953 in Greeley, Colorado to his parents, Verda Eileen Crisler and Clarence John Banka.  At the age of 3, his family relocated to Denver, Colorado where he grew up in the Wash Park neighborhood.  After graduating from Denver South High School, Don lived for a brief amount of time in Honolulu, Hawaii, before returning to Colorado.

While working at American Paper, Don was introduced to fellow colleague, Sonda “Sunny” Yolawn Banka, and after some strong encouragement from their boss, the two began dating and were married on January 14, 1978.  In January of 1981, they welcomed their daughter Desiree, and a few short years later their son Adam joined the family.

Donald and Sunny raised their family in Aurora, Colorado.  During this time Don was an Operations Manager for Cole Hartford, a paper products wholesale company.  With his love and curiosity flourishing as the personal computer came into popularity, Don left the paper goods business and opened DCB Enterprises, a computer consultation, service, repair and installation company, DCB Enterprises.  Later in life he joined his wife (a REALTOR), and daughter (a Title Insurance Specialist) in the real estate industry and became a Senior Mortgage Loan Officer with Universal Lending.  He loved helping finance people’s dreams until he retired in 2015 due to struggles with his health.

During his life, “Big Don” enjoyed go-carts, model & remote control airplanes, being a paper boy, flying Cessna airplanes (as a licensed pilot), Cub Scouts (both as a kid & a leader for his son), taking road trips, going on mountain drives…especially in the Colorado Rockies, snow skiing, boating, singing (he was a Barbershopper), all kinds of music (country & musicals were his favorites), cooking, riding motorcycles with The Rocky Mountain Cruisers, and both tending to and entertaining friends and family in his backyard & pool.  But above all else, the two things he loved most were spending time with his dogs and with his family, especially his two grandsons!

Don battled with health challenges for many years, and had more ambulance rides, hospital and rehabilitation center stays than he could count. He fought an incredibly valiant fight, however, his body just became too worn out to continue its journey.  After entering hospice, on the evening of Sunday, February 19, 2023, surrounded by his wife and two kids, he peacefully passed away at his Aurora home.

Donald Banka was preceded in death by his parents Verda & Clarence Banka, his mother-in-law Janice Lipe, his brother-in-law Ed King, all of his aunts and uncles, several cousins and numerous beloved pets.  He is survived by his wife, Sonda “Sunny” Banka; his daughter Desiree [Mark] Rothenberger of Aurora, Colorado; his son Adam [Amanda] Banka of Severance, Colorado; his big sisters Lucy King of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Jean [Jeff] Cochrane of Honolulu, Hawaii; his father-in-law Jack Lipe of Centennial, Colorado; many wonderful cousins and in-laws; his grand-dogs; his two treasured grandsons, Bradley Banka & Travis Banka; and his golden furbabies Daisy, Cherry & Paisley!

A public viewing will be held on Friday, March 3, 2023 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (950 Laredo St. Aurora, CO 80011) from 9:30-10:15am, followed by the service at 10:30am.  His body will then be laid to rest at Fairmount Cemetery at 1:00pm, with a luncheon back at the church afterward.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are encouraged to be made to The National Kidney Foundation (www.kidney.org) and The Denver Dumb Friends League (www.ddfl.org)