Posted on 09/04/2019
Donald "Don" Lovelace, 87, passed away on August 27, 2019. His Mass of Christian burial will be held Saturday, September 14, 2019 at The Divine Redeemer Catholic Church, 1106 Fort Drive, Hanahan, SC 29410. Prayers of Final Commendation and Farewell will take place in the Garden of Valor, Carolina Memorial Park, 7113 Rivers Avenue, North Charleston, SC. The family will receive friends from 6:00PM to 8:00PM, Friday, September 13, 2019 at J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Northwoods Chapel, 2180 Greenridge Rd., North Charleston, SC 29406. Born June 6, 1932 in Norfolk, Virginia, he was the son of the late Donald A. Lovelace from Farmville, NC and the late Helen Rooney from Charleston, SC. He married the love of his life, Nancy Hodgson, on August 16, 1958 in Athens, Georgia. They had 61 wonderful years of marriage. Don was one of two children, the other one being his sister, a Roman Catholic Nun living in San Diego, CA. He was born into a Navy family. His father was a naval aviator, Naval Academy class of 1928, killed during the initial stages of the Battle of Midway as executive officer of the USS Yorktown fighter squadron. Upon his mother's marriage to another naval aviator, the family transferred from California to Washington State, Hawaii, Florida, and Virginia, adding to Don's earlier experiences which included Panama, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. He attended high school in Coronado and San Jose, CA, and Honolulu, Hawaii. Upon appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, he entered the four-year course with the class of 1955. He was a varsity swimmer and captain of his battalion water polo team. Upon graduation, he was commissioned into the Navy Supply Corps and attended the supply school in Athens, GA where he was fortunate to meet Nancy, a University of Georgia freshman from Bowman, GA. Don had a 25 year career in the Supply Corps, living first in San Diego, then Norfolk, VA, then Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Oahu, HI, then Marine Corps Air Facility, Jacksonville, NC. He then moved his growing family to Mayport, FL where he served two years aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-042) with deployments to the Mediterranean and the Vietnam war zone. He was then ordered to the Aviation Supply Office in Philadelphia, PA and after that it was as Supply Officer of Naval Air Station, Kingsville, TX. His final two tours were in Charleston, first as officer-in-charge of the Navy Audit Office and then on the staff of the Mine Warfare Command, where he retired in 1980 as a Navy Commander. His "second career" began as a SC licensed real estate agent. That lasted a year and a half and ended with RCA asking him to join the company in Charleston as a technical writer and logistics engineer. As defense contracts ended and new ones were awarded, Don was hired by the Vitro Corp. (later to become Penn Central), and then Management Systems Application, Inc. After 13 years and rising to senior systems engineer, developing Intrusion Detection Systems in applications for Navy and Marine Corps activities all over the world, he retired in 1994. In retirement, he applied his energies to volunteer activity. He became president of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Charleston Chapter, and a trustee for the Naval Academy Alumni Association, Annapolis, MD. He was active in the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Charleston Chapter (president) and the SC State Council (treasurer). He was also president of the Harmony Squares Square Dance Club and the Meri-Go-Rounds Round Dance Club, both of North Charleston, SC. He and his wife enjoyed "big band" music and loved to dance in any mode (ballroom, shag, jitterbug, cha-cha, etc.) He was a past member for many years of the Hanahan Beatification Committee. In 1999, he received the Hanahan Pride Certificate from City Council for making the city a more beautiful place. In youth, he was a Boy Scout life guard at camp, and later at 17 was a Hawaiian beach life guard. Ever since high school, Don played handball, continuing through Naval Academy days and into his navy career. When the sport moved predominately to racquetball, he joined in as a player into his late seventies. Don enjoyed working in and around the house, mowing/trimming the lawn, doing minor maintenance and repair, gardening, feeding the birds. He loved animals and had special memories for this black Labrador Retriever that died many years ago. Most of all, he loved his family. He is survived by his wife, Nancy; sons, Don III, COL, USA (Ret.) (Blair), Stephen (Cindy) and Greg (Camille); daughter, Malia Ritchie (Kevin); eight grandchildren: Peyton, Tanner, Zachary, Ellen, William, Hunter, Ashton, Kendal; and sister, Helen Louise.
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