Donald E. Calfee

Donald E. Calfee, 93, of Maryville, MO, passed away on Thursday, July 27, 2017, at the Maryville Living Center, Maryville.

Donald was born on September 21, 1923, on his grandfather Ed Adkins Farm, in Nodaway County, south of Elmo, MO.  His parents were Virgil I. and Bessie (Adkins) Calfee, and preceded him in death. He was preceded by his sister Ila Beery.

He lived most of his young life on a farm around the Elmo and Burlington Junction, MO, areas.  At age 16 he had to drop out of school to help his Mother with the farm work due to the illness of his Father.

On October 27, 1944, he married Virginia Lee Hagey.  They lived and farmed in the Burlington Junction and Elmo area until 1957.  At that time Donald joined the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, spending the next five years working with the survey in many of the east coast States.

Don continued working on his education until finishing high school and to continue working on his education with taking classes to help with his work.  In March of 1962, Donald transferred to Las Vegas, NV, to set up a Survey Office at the Nevada Test Site at Mercury, NV.  This survey party did semic testing and earthquake study in the western U.S., Alaska, Central America and South America.

After 20 years with the U.S. Coast Survey Party he took his retirement and joined the URS Blume Consulting Co., of San Francisco, CA., which had contracted to do the same work at Mercury that he had been doing with the Coast and Geodetic Survey.  Donald did the budgeting and contracting for this company for another 14 years before taking retirement.  At this time, he was asked to sign on to be a consultant for the Dept. of Energy at the Mercury Test Site for another year.

In 1964, he invented a system of testing motion on high rise buildings, which was in use for years.  After his retirement, Donald worked to help other retired employees from the Mercury Test Site to establish the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation, known as the Atomic Testing Museum on the grounds of the University of Nevada.  In 2003, he and Virginia moved back to Missouri, settling in Maryville.  He was a member of Countryside Christian Church.

Donald is survived by his wife, Virginia, of the home in Maryville.  His brother, Lowell (Carol) Calfee, Burlington Junction, his sister, Evelyn Wesley, Layton, UT, and a host of nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 AM, on Monday, July 31, 2017, at the Countryside Christian Church, Maryville, MO.  The burial will follow at the Ohio Cemetery, Burlington Junction, MO.

The family will receive friends from 6-8:00 PM, on Sunday, July 30, 2017, at the Bram-Danfelt Funeral Home, Maryville.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the SSM Hospice, Maryville, MO.