Donald William Wolgast, Jr., 67, of Rock Island, ILL., died, Thursday, September 4, 2014 at UnityPoint Health-Trinity, Rock Island. Services for Don will be 10 am, Monday at the Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, 3030-7th Ave., Rock Island. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Rock Island National Cemetery, where military honors will be conducted by the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter No. 299. Don was born April 8th, 1947, in Aurora, Illinois to Donald William Wolgast and Mildred Naomi Haight Cooper Wolgast.

He married Janet Louise Jeffery on March 7th, 1966 in Naperville, Illinois. One daughter was born from this marriage. They divorced on February 28th, 1967.

He married Deborah Lee Miller on August 23rd, 1969 in San Jose, California.

Don enlisted in the U.S. Navy on September 24th, 1964, with a deferred active duty date to be after high school graduation. He graduated from Naperville Community High School, class of 1965. He was called to active service on March 7th, 1966. In June of 1966 he received orders to U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion FOUR (SeaBees) and spent most of his time with them until mid-1969 in the Northern I-Corp of Vietnam in many different locations. After his last tour in Vietnam, Don was selected as NESEP Staff at the NROTC Center at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. He completed his BA in Mathematics during the next three years cum laude with memberships in Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies. On graduation he accepted a commission as a Naval Officer. He then served as a Deck Officer on the U.S.S. Elmer Montgomery and the U.S.S. Guadalcanal until his discharge on May 24th, 1974 with an honorable discharge when medical problems started to surface. These medical problems were considered by the Navy as due to pre-existing conditions.

During his tours in Vietnam, Don was heavily exposed to dioxins (Agent Orange) and many of the maladies associated with that until his death. Very few people knew what he was dealing with because he hid it very well until close to the end when he started to deteriorate rapidly.

Don had an interesting career with jobs as a secondary level Math teacher at an inner city school in Portsmouth, Virginia, as a contractor to NASA twice (at Langley and at Kennedy), Idaho National Engineering Labs in Idaho Falls, Idaho during which time he did graduate work in Computer Science, ten months as an agent of a foreign government with PEMEX, and various positions on the Rock Island Arsenal as a contractor, then a federal employee, and a contractor again.

Don was a Golden Eagle member of the NRA, a life member of the Seabee Veterans of America, the VFW, and the VVA.

What meant more to him than anything else, however, was his wife and family. He cooked Sunday lunch for the whole family and many friends every Sunday until he could no longer do that. Then the task was taken up by rotating other family members. This tradition will be continued.

Don was preceded in death by his parents and two younger sisters, Mary and Judy.

He is survived by his loving wife, by daughters Amy Rae Moser of Bay St Louis, Mississippi, Mary Elizabeth (Tom) Gambucci of Davenport, Iowa, Connie (Lisa) Wolgast of Anna Maria Island, Florida, Theresa Schulz of Bettendorf, Iowa, and Margaret Wolgast of Bettendorf, Iowa, his brother James Bruce Cooper of East Moline, and foster son Bill (Andrea) Kleckner of East Moline and six grandchildren, Anna Gambucci, Catherine Gambucci, Anthony Gambucci, Victoria Gambucci, Madeline Schulz, and Selene Schulz, and finally his dog, "Bernard".

Online condolences may be left for the family at wheelanpressly.com