Donald Richard Hallwachs, age 91, passed away on February 8, 2022, in Palmdale, California. Working 40+ years in the aerospace industry, Don started at McDonnell Aircraft in 1956 located in St. Louis, Missouri and worked there for three years until his new bride, Joanne, became homesick for Wisconsin. Returning to Milwaukee, General Motors hired him to test equipment from IBM. A strong work ethic promoted him to a supervisor for the Apollo Ground Support team. Willing to move his family (which had grown to three girls and one boy), General Motors relocated him to Santa Barbara, California working in the defense research laboratory built in Goleta. This relocation was supposed to last one year but stretched into 33 years of groundbreaking work for the U.S. government such as: pingers installed in the South Pacific and the first successful delivery that was on time and without delay. Printed wiring boards (PWB) production for computers and the Apollo guidance systems, plus pioneering electronic design to replace paper designs were his standout accomplishments.
Retiring in April, 1993, Don and Joanne took advantage of their new freedom and traveled all throughout the United States taking in school and family reunions, watching baseball and football games at every stadium west of the Mississippi River, and participating in bowling tournaments where it was not uncommon for Don to bowl 300-point games. Don and Joanne also volunteered at the La Purisima Mission in Lompoc, California, where they organized and attended the yearly mission days held at the mission. For a while, Don worked with other retired General Motor engineers and made wooden toys to donate to families in the Santa Barbara area. Don is grateful for all of his colleagues who helped him throughout his long electrical engineering career. Don greatly missed Joanne, who predeceased him after 57 years of marriage in 2014.
His remaining family of Catherine, Donald Morgan, Judith, and Audrey (who passed away in 2019) and their children all hope Don and Joanne are reunited once again to look down to enjoy our adventures and protect us with their love. We love you Dad and may you rest in peace. Inurnment will be in the Lompoc Cemetery in Lompoc, California. A private memorial service in Lompoc is planned.
