Donald Black

Donald E. Black SUN PRAIRIE - Donald Eugene Black, 85, Sun Prairie, a World War II Navy veteran and retired City of Madison firefighter, died May 1, 2009, surrounded by his family at home. Mr. Black was born May 28, 1923, at Elizabethtown, Ind., and he grew up in the Columbus, Ind., area before enlisting in the Navy. He was an honor graduate of the Navy Radio School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he met Betty Delores Chamberlain, his wife of 63 years, on a blind date in the Memorial Union Rathskeller. He served in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Pacific on board the destroyers USS Bernadou and USS English. The couple was married Feb. 15, 1946, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison. They had five children: Bernice (Norman) Lenburg, Sun Prairie; William (Teri) Black, Madison; Jane (Anthony) Mellini, Niceville, Fla.; Kathleen (Thomas) Lehman, Sun Prairie; and Ronald Black, Spring Hill, Fla. He joined the City of Madison Fire Department in 1949 where he served 30 years before his retirement in 1979 and he also worked as a union mason. Upon retirement, the Blacks moved to Spring Hill, Fla., where they lived for 28 years until returning to Wisconsin in July, 2007. He was active with the Dane County Conservation League for many years, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a member of Elks lodges in Madison and in Brooksville, Fla., where he used his masonry skills to help build a new lodge. He is survived by his wife; their children; six grandchildren, Daniel Savering and Jeffrey Black, both of Madison, Vanessa Mellini, Memphis, Tenn., Elizabeth Mellini, San Diego, Calif., and Amber and Adam Lehman, Sun Prairie; and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers and sisters; and grandson, Alex Black. Funeral services will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL HOME, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, at 11 a.m., on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, with the Rev. Elwood Carey presiding. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 and from 10 a.m. until the time of service on Wednesday. Burial will be in Roselawn Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to HospiceCare Inc. Gunderson East Funeral &Cremation Centers 5203 Monona Drive (608)221-5420 www.gundersonfh.com