Donald Lee Brannon

Donald Lee Brannon died on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. He was 85. Donald was born on August 3, 1925 in Imma Township, IL to the late, Harry C. Brannon and Hazel Cutchin Brannon. He was raised from infancy in Evansville, IN and attended Benjamin Bosse High School, graduating Class of 1943. While at Bosse, he played on a championship football team his junior year, and was awarded the Kiwanis MVP award his senior year. He entered the U.S. Army Air Forces in December 1943, served 2 ½ years and was discharged as Sergeant with the 434th Troop Carrier Command as a Radar Tech/Operator. After serving in the military, Mr. Brannon enrolled at the University of Evansville (formerly Evansville College), where he earned his BSEE in 1951 and earned two monograms in Varsity Tennis. In college, he met Helen L. Bollinger, who he married in September of 1950 at St. Benedicts Cathedral in Evansville. He worked for IBM and Electronics Res. Inc. in Evansville, IN before relocating to Glen Burnie, MD in 1956, where he was employed for 33 years at Westinghouse Electric Corporate Defense Center, holding various engineering and management positions. He retired from Westinghouse in 1989 as a Radar Engineering Manager in the Avionics Division. Don was an avid golfer for 55 years and a 15 year resident member of Prospect Bay Country Club in Grasonville, MD. He was also a life-long philatelist, or stamp collector, with a world-wide collection of some 35,000 issues and a US-Canadian collection of over 4,500 (mostly mint) issues. Mr. Brannon is survived by his wife of 60 years, Helen Brannon, and their ten children, Donald Patrick Brannon and his wife, Deborah of St. Croix, VI, Barbara Ahalt of Cape Cod, MA, Steven Kerry Brannon and his wife, Denise of Millersville, MD, Margaret (Peggy) Hankins and her husband, Scott of Macon, GA, Diane Listorti and her husband, Mike of Stevensville, MD, Melissa Anne Brannon of Tucson, AZ, David Anthony Brannon and his wife, Cherie of Houston, TX, Kevin Eugene Brannon and his wife, Ellen of Grasonville, MD, Bruce Michael Brannon and his wife, Michelle of Glen Burnie, MD and Bianca Brannon-Horney and her husband, Brian of Stevensville, MD; sixteen grandchildren, Cyrus Ahalt, Katie Ahalt, Blake Ahalt, Sean Brannon, Ryan Brannon, Brandon Clyde, Ashleigh Clyde, Rochelle Brannon, Joshua Brannon, Bradley Brannon, Gabrielle Brannon, Levi Brannon, Max Brannon, Tyler Brannon, Abigail Brannon-Horney and Cole Horney; a sister, Dorothy Brannon, and numerous cousins in Indiana and Illinois. A sister, Marilyn Pearson, predeceases him. Family will receive relatives and friends on Thursday, March 31, 2011 from 6-8PM at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, 408 S. Liberty Street, Centreville, MD, 21617. A Mass will be held on Friday April 1, 2011 at 11:00AM at St. Christopher’s Catholic Church, 1861 Harbor Drive, Chester, MD 21619. Interment will follow the service at Eastern Shore Veteran’s Cemetery – Hurlock. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to Hospice of Queen Anne’s Inc., 205 Comet Drive, Centreville, MD 21617.

Donald Lee Brannon

August 3, 1925 - March 29, 2011