Donald E. Askins
Donald E. Askins, called Don, was born on 1 August 1938, the first child of Carl Edmond Askins and Iris Pearl Coombs, who had married at Hackney the autumn before. He grew up on the farm east of Winfield. In 1940 the family was in Rock Creek Township, Cowley County: Carl, Iris and Donald, aged one. His father drove trucks and ran heavy equipment, went to the Navy in 1944, and later ran the Winfield street department. Two sisters followed, Geraldine in 1941 and Lila in 1944, and a brother, Wayne.
Donald made the Air Force his career. He served in Vietnam and retired as a technical sergeant. His bronze marker at Mulvane reads TSGT US AIR FORCE VIETNAM. After the service he settled at Mulvane, south of Wichita, and ran his own business, Askins Heating and Air Conditioning. He married Donna Lea Aimes, a Mulvane girl, daughter of Dwight and Gladys Aimes. The couple's stone gives the date as 8 April 1972 and names their children: Leland, Keith, Michael and Susan. The sons were born in the early 1960s, before that date; whether the couple had married earlier is not recorded.
He died on Tuesday 19 September 2000, aged 62. The Wichita Eagle notice was short: retired Air Force tech sergeant and Askins Heating and Air Conditioning owner; survivors his wife, two sons, a daughter at Fayetteville, North Carolina, his parents Carl and Iris of Winfield, a brother at Copan, Oklahoma, sisters at Arkansas City and Fairview, Oklahoma, and eleven grandchildren. A memorial was established with American Legion Post 136. The service was at Mulvane Cemetery on the Saturday, under Senter-Smith Mortuary. His son Leland died before 2011. Donna lived on at Mulvane until 2011 and lies beside him.
Sources
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Cite: Heirology, "Donald E. Askins (1938-2000)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/donald-e-askins-1938-2000-c521cf.