Donald West

Donald West, 80, of Olathe, KS passed away on May 23rd, 2018 at the University of Kansas Medical Center due to complications following surgery.

Donald, "Don" to all that knew him, was born on July 10th, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois to Virginia West (Bradley) and Clifton West.

Don joined the US Army in 1954 and retired as a Sergeant First Class in 1974. During his career he served all over the world including Japan, Germany, Okinawa, and Viet Nam.

While in Japan, Don met and married his wife of 60 years, Emiko (Ozaki) West. Born to this union were three children, Carolyn, Donald Jr. (Aigi), and Kenneth (Kanji).

Following Don's retirement from the military, he moved his family to Kansas and began a second career working for the United States Postal Service as a supervisor at their Bulk Mail Processing Center. Retiring again after another 20 years, Don's energy and work ethic soon compelled him to take on a job with the Olathe School District where he enjoyed serving lunches to children.

While work was important to Don, his real passion were his family and friends. The love, loyalty and time he freely gave made each and every one of them feel like they were uniquely special to him (and they were)! He never let friendships and relationships go stale and worked very hard at maintaining them. Whether he was "Don", "Dad", "Pa" or "Unc" they were all treated and loved equally. He was always there, no questions asked, for anyone who needed him, with whatever he had.

Don is survived by his wife Emiko, of the home, along with his 3 children, all of Olathe, KS. Additionally, he was blessed with 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Other beloved family members include his brother Clifton Jr (deceased), his sister Juanita and twin brother Dennis (deceased) along with step siblings Tina, Cedric, Mike, Paul, Eric and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Services will be held graveside at the Leavenworth National Cemetery (191 Muncie Road, Leavenworth, Kansas 66048) on June 1, 2018 at 10:00 am.