Donald William Sperry

DONALD W. SPERRYApril 7, 1932 ˜ November 20, 2022 Don Sperry passed away at 6 AM on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, in Vancouver, WA. He was 90. Born and raised in Wenatchee, Don spent a lifetime recalling fond memories of his hometown, many pertaining to the relationships he forged there and the athletic pursuits he shared with his friends during the lean times that followed The Great Depression. He played football, basketball, and baseball for Wenatchee High School, enjoyed hunting on Birch Mountain, and fishing the rivers and lakes east of the Cascade Mountains. Inspired by several outstanding teachers in the Wenatchee Public Schools system, Don became a lifelong learner with a wide range of interests. He was educated primarily in the sciences but also pursued less formal study of economics, the world's political history, and his father's native Greek language. He was a talented photographer, a lover of Big Band and jazz music, and an eloquent writer with an impressive vocabulary. He enjoyed people and was reciting long, obscure poetry passages and telling jokes to friends - old and new - until his final breath. After graduating from Wenatchee High School in 1950, Don earned a degree in chemistry from the University of Washington in 1954. He graduated from UW's School of Dentistry three years later before attending medical school at the University of Illinois. Following residencies at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, he moved his family to Vancouver in 1965 where he entered private practice as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Before selling his practice in 1983, Don helped start the Vancouver Cardinals, an American Legion baseball program that served as a springboard to dozens of local players who went on to play college and professional baseball. In 1995, after spending the last twelve years of his career teaching oral surgery at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, he retired to a quiet life on Hood Canal where he fished for salmon and crab, restored a 1973 Boston Whaler, and spent time tinkering in the garden. He and his wife, Violet, left Hood Canal in 2017. He spent his remaining years living near family in Vancouver. Don was preceded in death by his brother, George Sperry; father, Bill Sperry (Spyropoulos); mother, Jessie Sperry; and sister, Betty Mae Anderson. Survivors include his wife of 69 years, Violet Sperry; four children of whom he was immensely proud, including Michele Rutherford (Brian) of Woodinville, WA, Mike Sperry (Betsy) of Issaquah, WA, Dan Sperry (Monica) of Sonoma, CA, and Chris Sperry (Andrea) of Vancouver, WA. In addition, he has passed on his enduring love to nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. A celebration of life will be planned for a future date. Friends and family interested in being informed should leave an email address with Mike Sperry at msperry@onedegreebc.com. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer's Association (alz.org) may be made in Don Sperry's honor.

Donald William Sperry

April 7, 1932 - November 20, 2022