Donald Andrew Fee, age 80, a longtime Defiance resident, died October 8, 2019 at Sunset Village Retirement Home in Sylvania, where he was a resident. Don was born August 17, 1939 in Newark, Ohio to the late Andrew and Helen (Smith) Fee. He graduated in 1957 from Defiance High School and attended Miami University, Oxford, OH for one year. Don married Carolyn “Rosie” Miles on January 3, 1959. That same year, he started working as a time keeper at Defiance Screw Machine Products which later became known as Defiance Precision Products. Don was later promoted to the accounting department, a job he kept until 1980 when he and two fellow employees purchased the company. He served as vice president of manufacturing until his retirement in 1995. One year later Don started a small machine shop with his three sons called D-4 Industries where he worked for five additional years. In his free time, Don enjoyed playing golf, bridge, reading, volunteering and he travelled extensively through the United States and Europe. He was an active member of St. Mary’s Parish, Defiance and was a board member of both ProMedica Defiance Regional Hospital and Kettenring Country Club.
He is lovingly survived by his wife, Rosie of Sylvania; daughter, Vicki (Jeff) Blake of Toledo; sons, Donald Jr. of Paulding, Douglas Fee of Naples, FL and David Fee of Defiance; sister, Peggy Keener of Columbus; brother, Michael Fee of Visalia, CA; grandchildren, Jameson (Samantha) Fee of MI, Megan (Mark) Hamlin of Okemos, MI, Andrew Fee of Wauseon, Emily (Casey) Hice of Grand Rapids, OH, Alicia Fee of Defiance, Natalie (Lawrence) White of Toledo, Jade (Adam) Coressel of Defiance, Lindsay (Tyler) Ebinger of Belmont, NC and Jacob Fee of Paulding; sixteen great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Don was also preceded in death by sisters, Mary-Lou Wernicke and Kathleen Fee; and grandson-in-law, Derek Stender.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, October 15, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. until the time of Don’s funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church, 715 Jefferson Avenue, Defiance, with Father Randy Giesige presiding. Committal rites and burial will follow at Riverview Memory Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to St. Mary’s Catholic Church or Kaitlyn’s Cottage, 1260 Ralston Ave., Defiance, OH 43512.