Don Harold Killian of Williamsburg died January 17, 2019 at age 77 following a period of decline from several serious health conditions, particularly of complications following a fall in the home in November 2018.

Don was born May 12, 1941 to Carl and Myrna Killian of Portland, Oregon.  He is survived by Karen S. Killian, his wife of 21 years; older brother Van Killian and Van’s wife Nancy of Milwaukie, Oregon; niece Karen Fobert of Oregon and nephew Todd Killian of Alaska; and many loyal and beloved friends; predeceased by his younger brother Kim Killian of Portland, Oregon.

Struck by childhood cancer in the 1940s, his parents were told to take him home to die.  Instead, his mother, in a rare act of rebellion, took him to the state university to try an experimental cancer treatment called radiation therapy.   It cured him, and gave him seven more decades of life, but he would go on to develop five other cancers as an adult.  He was being treated for two at the time of his death.

Don went on to enjoy a happy childhood and teen years in Portland.  Academics came easily for him, and he won school awards for everything from safe driving to growing show-worthy dahlias.  Summers were spent at his grandfather’s wheat and cattle farm in eastern Washington state and at the rustic family cabin at Cannon Beach, Oregon.

His father was a pharmacist, active in the community but distant from his family, which was not unusual in that era.  He spoke lovingly of his mother, who often said, “No one is so poor that they cannot afford to share food with another.”  Taking this to heart, Don found deep pleasure throughout life in preparing treats such as raspberry jam and fresh pesto for his friends.

Don graduated Franklin High School 1959, Harvard College class of 1963, where he earned a multidisciplinary B.A. and was active in the JFK campaign; PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon; internship at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago.  That was a happy time for him; the joy of eating steaming hot polish sausage in noisy, crowded neighborhood bars lived vividly in his memories 50 years later.

He arrived in Newport News in the early seventies, where he was the Director of Outpatient Clinical Services for Riverside Regional Medical Center.  During those years, Don helped many people and particularly enjoyed clinical work with dual diagnosis and substance abuse patients.  A natural teacher, on the side he taught college classes in psychology to US Navy sailors in its PACE program, and was on the faculty at Eastern Virginia Medical School.  He also served as chairman of the board for the Sarah Bonwell Hudgins Center for Retarded Children in Hampton, VA.

After retiring from Riverside in the late nineties, Don worked periodically as a consulting forensic psychologist to the Virginia Supreme Court before finally retiring fully in 2004.  A long time friend of Bill W., Don enjoyed a long and active retirement:  cooking, enjoying coffee or lunch with friends, reading, indulging his wife, grocery shopping, and helping others.  Relentlessly curious, he was often on the computer to research the etymology of a word or the history of some custom.  In 2014 he turned to Jesus, and was baptized in summer 2018 by Pastor Tom Hallman of Calvary Chapel Williamsburg.

Don was deeply loved and will be sorely missed.  We will gather as he wished:  to grieve, laugh, and eat cake at a memorial service on at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, January 25 at Legacy Hall, 4301 New Town Avenue, Williamsburg.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Virginia Peninsula Food Bank, 2401 Aluminum Avenue, Hampton, VA 23661 (info@HRFoodbank.org).