Donald Gerald Moffat was born September 5, 1943 in Nipawin, Saskatchewan to Lawrence and Dorothy Moffat.
Don grew up on the family farm in the Armley area. He took his schooling at North Armley and then Tisdale for high school. He and his brother Ed were in the 4-H Grain Club.
After high school Don worked in road construction for a while. He spent one winter in Whitehorse, Yukon where he worked on a ranch.
In 1966 he and his sister Hazel moved to Edmonton where they shared housing and both found work. Don took a welding course and obtained his journeyman ticket.
In 1967 Don married Shirley Warner and they lived in Edmonton, then St. Albert. While there, as well as working as a welder he took night classes to obtain his grade 12. Don, Wilf Hemrich and Frank Kunz also took on extra work painting old houses. They covered up a multitude of messes in some of those places.
Don’s two older sons, Brian and Gary were born in Edmonton.
In 1972 the family moved to a farm in the Armley area where Don farmed with his father and brother, then on his own after they moved to town. To keep the farm going in those early years, he worked out in the winter loading logging trucks in the bush and one year at the mill at Carrot River.
In 1976 a third son, Jamie was born at Nipawin.
Don served on the school board and also on an agricultural diversity board. He was interested in trying different crops. One year he grew coriander, with such a bountiful yield that they shipped a container car load to South America. He also tried caraway and, with another couple, grew garlic for a few years.
While Don was a farmer at heart, his happy place was the lake.He loved fishing and camping; visiting with everyone he met. When his siblings and their families visited in summer, they almost always ended up at a lake. Another one of his happy places was coffee row at the Dairy Queen. Don loved people. He could start a conversation with anyone, anywhere. He was happiest when spending time with family and friends.
In his retirement years, Don took great pleasure in finding old tractors in deserted yards, along fence lines or wherever. He hauled home quite a few.
When health problems forced an early retirement from farming, Don enjoyed more lake time. He also travelled to Florida, California and Arizona. Don also did some traveling with his sister Lorna.
When Don moved from the farm he bought a place in Klemmer Subdivision in Nipawin. Sadly, due to increasing health problems, his time there was short. He spent some time in the care home at Smeaton, then long term care in Carrot River.
Don passed away in Nipawin Hospital on October 16, 2021 at the age of 78.
Don was predeceased by his parents, brother Ed, son Jamieand brother-in-law Roy Hastings. He is survived by his sonBrian (Dawn), granddaughters: Eleanor, Ava and Jillian, son Gary and their mother, Shirley. He is also survived by sisters: Mary Hastings, Hazel (Walter) Atchison and Lorna (Andrew) Barclay, Shirley’s sister Gloria (Neil) Allchin as well as numerous nieces and nephews.