Donald R. Pond

Donald R. Pond joined our heavenly Father at the age of 82 on May 26, 2015. Donald and his identical twin brother were born in Lubbock, TX, December 25, 1932 and adopted by Virgil Lee and Irene Pond of Amarillo, TX. He was raised in Amarillo and went to Amarillo High School. Don joined the Navy at the start of the Korean War and served 3 years on the destroyer USS Kyes (DD787). He learned early on during his duty on the destroyer, ""don't pick a snowball fight with a carrier."" He attended the Navy's electrician's mate school in San Diego, graduating with the highest mark in the history of the school. Upon completion of service he attended Amarillo College and graduated from Texas Tech in 1957 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He started work with Chance-Vought Aircraft, flight testing the Regulus2 missile system. He was also in charge of several telemetry instrument vans at the Pacific missile range. Don joined Bendix Pacific Mercury supporting the design and building of the NASA worldwide tracking system. He later moved in a different direction and sold instrumentation and telemetry tracking systems in the Los Angeles area. While in LA, he met his wife Betty. They married in Sun Valley, ID in 1961. Shortly thereafter they went on an extended 3 month tour to Europe. In 1967, Don and Betty welcomed their only child, Kathy Lynn. Don worked for EMR in LA and transferred to Denver, CO in 1968. A year later Don & Betty formed their own manufacturer sales rep. company, Pond Associates, Inc. They operated Pond Assoc. for 15 years representing companies such as Motorola, Loral-Terracom, Conic, Aydin Monitor Systems, and others. Covered territories included the 5 adjacent states to Colorado. Don retired in 1986. In 1992 he and Betty purchased a home at a beach and tennis resort in Destin, FL. They enjoyed the best of both worlds, being snowbirds in FL and returning to CO in the spring to spend time with their daughter and family. Don loved training his German Shorthair Pointers (Charlie & Max) and field trialing them. He played a lot of tennis and enjoyed skeet shooting, trap and sporting clays with his friends. He loved to quail hunt with his buddy Danny. Don made annual deep sea fishing trips with his twin brother at Port Aransas, TX and they were ferocious backgammon players. During their retirement, Don and Betty enjoyed extensive world travels to China, Australia, New Zealand, France, Greece and Costa Rica. Don was predeceased by his father Virgil Lee Pond and mother Irene (Crownover) and his twin brother Richard Lee Pond. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty; daughter Kathy (Matthew) Wagoner; grandchildren Anna and Evie; sister-in-law Paula Pond; nephews Russell Pond and Randy Pond; grandnephews Caleb and Wyatt, and grandnieces Hope and Molly. Donald enjoyed a full and wonderful life. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed. Don's final resting place will be at Horan & McConaty's Cremation Gardens at Rocky Mountain Memorial Park (11148 E. Dartmouth Ave., Denver, CO 80014). At Don's request, the services are private. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Service, 1089 Bannock Street, Denver, CO 80204. Please share your memories of Don by selecting the Guestbook link below.