Donald Osborne Heafner, 89, passed away peacefully Monday, October 15, 2018 at his home surrounded by his family.
Mr. Heafner was born August 16, 1929 in Shelby, N.C. and was the son of the late Leeroy Heafner and Bessie Lee Hamilton Heafner. He was a 1948 graduate of Belmont High School and served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State in 1957. The family moved in 1958 to Fernandina Beach, Fla., where Mr. Heafner was employed by ITT Rayonier for the next 28 years. He was a longtime member of American Legion Post 54 in Fernandina Beach, a lifetime member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the USS Toledo CA133 Association and served for a time as a board member for 8 Flags Federal Credit Union in Fernandina Beach.
He was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters, Betty Lane Collins, Norma Rea Cornwell and Carolyn Angelette; and a brother, Dr. Bob Oliver Heafner.
Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Marlene Thompson Heafner; three children, Denice Heafner Nitschke (Dave), Donald O. Heafner Jr. (Debbie), and Amelia Rea Heafner Wilfong (Donald); sister, Joyce Mauney (Jim); seven grandchildren, Jeremy Daniel Lovequist (Jennifer), Marah Kirsten Lovequist, Susan Marie Heafner, Donald Lee Heafner, Christopher Nathaniel Heafner, Donald Clinton Wilfong Jr. and Emily Reagan Wilfong; four great-grandchildren, Maia Brooklyn Lovequist, Payson Heafner, Addyson Heafner and Lucy Heafner; and numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, October 19, 2018 at Peeples Family Funeral Homes, Riverview Chapel, 2220 Soutel Drive (near Lem Turner Road), Jacksonville. Burial will follow at 2:30 p.m. at Jacksonville National Cemetery with military honors. The Family will receive friends 10-11 a.m. at the funeral home, prior to the services.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
Peeples Family Funeral Homes