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Obituary of Donald Liss Courtney
August 7, 1925 – December 8, 2019
Donald Liss Courtney. Age 94 of Wyandotte.
Beloved husband of the late Betty Leadell Courtney. Loving father of Mollie (Sam) Galate, Adele (Charles) Roney and Jeanine (Don) Clark. Dearest grandfather of Courtney (Adam Ostrowski) Galate, Harrison Roney and the late Brett (Karen) Roney. Preceded in death by parents Thomas and Amolia Courtney and brothers Robert Thomas Courtney and John Frederick Courtney.
Family Tribute
Donald Liss Courtney came from one of the “founding families” of Wyandotte, Michigan dating back to 1864. He loved everything Wyandotte and was a lifelong resident. Items from his family are in the Wyandotte Historical Museum.
Don graduated from the Henry Ford Trade School in 1942 where he also played for their baseball team. Then came World War II and he enlisted in the US Coast Guard and served his country from 1943 – 1946 and was always very proud to be a WWII veteran.
After the war he came back to Wyandotte and met and married Betty Leadell (Lee) Campbell in 1948. They were married for 67 years until her passing in 2016. His married life was all about the family and his three daughters and grandchildren. He loved his outings with his girls, the family vacations, and the family holidays.
Don was passionate about baseball and college football. He was one of the Founders of the Wyandotte Indians midget football team. During the summers he always had a baseball game on the radio and loved going to see the Toledo Mudhens. He knew everything baseball.
He was employed by Detroit Edison from 1949 until 1986 when he retired from the Delray Power Plant. During his career with Detroit Edison he helped start up the River Rouge power plant and wrote the operators manual and brought the system online for the first time in 1957. The manual was still being used when the unit was retired in 2015.
Don was a Christian who was active in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church in Wyandotte and then the First Presbyterian Church in Trenton.
He developed a love of running just before he retired and joined Downriver Runners. He loved his races and completed four Detroit Free Press Marathons as well as countless other races including many in Dade City, Florida where he and Lee wintered. He also became involved with the American Legion Post 217 in Wyandotte.
Don made friends everywhere he went. He always had a smile, a story, and a joke for you.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Pound Pals Downriver
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John Molnar, Sr. opened the Detroit Hungarian Funeral Home, now the Molnar Funeral Homes, in 1923. The funeral home began in his home until relocating across the street to it's Delray location at 8623 Dearborn Avenue, in 1936. He had a strong work ethic and believed that you should never stop learning...