Donald Fear

A Mass of Christian Burial for Donald Fear, of Milford, will be held Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 10:30 AM at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford. Burial will be at Lonetree Cemetery in Everly. Visitation for Donald will begin one hour prior to the service on Tuesday at the church.

Donald Clifford Fear, age 78, died on May 14, 2022.

He was born on October 2, 1943, to Clifford and Lucille (Bleeker) Fear, the second of eight children. He graduated from Everly High School in 1962 and headed to southern California with plans of establishing residency to attend college. Don found work in a restaurant in hotel circle in San Diego where he quickly worked up the ranks, training under a French chef and becoming a chef himself. Don also met a cute waitress there and fell in love. He married Joyce Silva Tennant on March 12, 1964, and they, along with Steven, Jean, and David Tennant, became a family. Donna Marie and Kristi Kay were soon born into their brood.

Don advanced in his profession due to his excellent management and business skills and work ethic, which he used in many endeavors. In 1971, they moved their family to Everly, where Don joined his dad in the family trucking business. Don and his brother Steve later opened Everly Express trucking. His love of feeding and serving people was always present, though, and Don and Joyce also ran the kitchen at Meadowbrook Country Club for a summer and also The Branding Iron at the Clay County Fair for several years. In 1984, they purchased The Ranch in Everly, which became known for its lunch specials and Friday night steak fry’s.

While Don could often see when and where systems and things could be run better, he never had a bad word to say about anyone and his family was everything. He was a hard worker and so generous and kind-hearted. In his later years, Don enjoyed living up in Wahpeton on the canals of West Lake Okoboji.

Left to cherish his memory are children Steven Tennant, Hanford, CA; Dave (Linda) Tennant, Omaha, NE; Donna (Delbert) Struve, Hartley, IA; and Kristi (Steve) Wilson, Mediapolis, IA; siblings Betty (Dean Holst) Walton, Everly, IA; Steve (Rose) Fear, Everly, IA; Bonnie Fear, Marion, IA; Bruce (Bonnie) Fear, Loveland, CO; Becky (Mike) Hatting, Spencer, IA; and Brad (Beth) Fear, Everly; grandchildren Holly Tennant, David Tennant, John (Christina) Tennant, Shaun (Jenny Logan) Iske, Paul Iske, Toni (Cory) Sonner, Matt (Laura) Tennant, Brett (Amber) Struve, Britney (Bryan Holmberg) Struve, Jordan (Chad) VanEss, Nate (Kasey) Haberman, Jake (Tosha Martin) Wilson, Zach Wilson, and Ben Wilson; great-grand children, nieces, nephews, and many other relatives and friends.

Don was preceded in death by his wife of nearly 50 years, Joyce, his parents, sister Beverly Maher, brothers-in-law Larry Walton and Vincent Maher, Jean Tennant and her husband Grover Reiser, and daughter-in-law Cindy Tennant.