Donald Mack Eby
Donald Mack Eby passed away Thursday
(March 25, 2010) at Olathe Medical Center from complications with
cancer.
He is survived by his wife, Judie, of
Overland Park; three sons, Mike, Joe and Andy and their families; and
brother, Richard Eby and wife of Overland Park.
Don Eby was born on March 22, 1945, in
Newton to Olin and Lorene (Prather) Eby. He graduated from Newton
High School in 1963 and from Wichita State University in 1967,
earning a bachelor arts in business administration. Following
graduation, Don enlisted in the National Guard and served at Fort
Carson, Colo., as a supply sergeant until 1970.
Don married Judith Bickford on Sept.
10, 1966. For 20 years, Don Eby worked for Sisco Equipment, starting
out as a salesman and working his way up until he became president.
Don expanded to Kansas City and moved to Olathe. He retired from
Sisco in 1991.
Within months, Don's mother-in-law,
Mary Bickford, began to require more care because of her Alzheimer's
disease. Don not only built an assisted-living residence for his
mother-in-law, but he also became instrumental in fashioning
legislation for assisted living in several states, and Bickford
Senior Living has become a leading provider of senior care, with 42
branches through seven states.
Don Eby prepared himself to retire
again by beginning a new business - ranching. In six years, Don Eby
had become one of the leading producers of Angus cattle in the state
of Kansas, specializing in pure-bred genetics.
In the first year of his cattle
business, Don was diagnosed with terminal cancer, being given two
months to two years of survival. He attacked this diagnosis with the
same fighting spirit with which he approached all the rest of his
life, outliving his prognosis by more than three years.
Visitation will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at
Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home of Olathe.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m.
Monday at College Church of Olathe. Burial will follow at Pleasant
Valley Cemetery.
Memorials for Don Eby may be made to
the Bickford Foundation and can be left at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home
or mailed to 706 N. Lindenwood, Olathe, KS 66062.
To leave a special message for the
family, visit www.PenwellGabel.com.
