Don Dawes

Funeral services for Mr. Donald "Don"� Robert Dawes, of Cookeville will be held Friday at 3 p.m. in the Cookeville Chapel of Hooper-Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home. Interment with military honors will follow in Nash Cemetery. Chaplain Chuck Overton will officiate. His family will receive friends Friday from 12 noon until service time at the funeral home. On the evening of April 22, 2013, Don passed away at his home after a long battle with cancer, with loving family members and Caris Hospice by his side. He was 78 years old. Don was born June 18, 1934 in Carbondale, PA to the late Cecil William Dawes and Marie Louise Ashby Dawes Ort. He graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in Carbondale in 1952. A hard worker and loyal family man, Don began working at the age of 9 to help keep his family together after the early passing of his father. He began his 40 year career with the Woolworth Company as a stock worker the same year he graduated high school and proudly served in the U.S. Army in Washington D.C. His career with Woolworth gave him the opportunity to fulfill his love of travel and meeting new people. His most important move came early in his career when he was transferred to Royal Oak, MI, where he met his loving wife of 56 years, Wilodene Nash. As he worked his way up through the organization he managed stores for both Woolworth and Woolco throughout the country before reaching the position of Assistant Director of Sales & Advertising in their corporate headquarters in New York City. With fond memories, he often spoke of the people he worked with. Don also enjoyed music and reading. However, what people will remember most about him was his gift for talking, his sense of humor, his friendship, and his devotion and dedication to his wife and family. Don was preceded in death by his parents Cecil & Marie, his stepfather Murvington Ort, and his brother William Dawes. Don is survived by his wife Wilodene Nash Dawes (whom he married March 16, 1957 in Berkley, Michigan), his son Robert (JoDee) Dawes of Potwin KS, his son Gary (Mary) Dawes of Hendersonville TN, his daughter Lisa (Kevin) Palmer of Valley Forge PA, and his son Erik (Kimberly) Dawes of Robbinsville NJ, and 8 grandchildren, Donald Dawes, Solon Dawes, Cynthia Dawes, and Bobby Dawes of Potwin KS, Brian Dawes and Kyle Dawes of Hendersonville TN, Mark Dawes and Jake Dawes of Robbinsville NJ. Mr. Dawes' grandchildren will serve as pallbearers. Memorial contributions may be made to International Waldenstrom"�s Macroglobulinemia Foundation. ( www.iwmf.com.) by contacting the funeral home.