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Donald Thall

August 3, 2019
Kalamazoo, MI

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Don was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 7, 1932. He was the only child of Ina and Joseph Thall, who moved from Chicago to Kalamazoo in 1935. In his youth Don enjoyed acting and worked on many productions at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. He attended Kalamazoo Public Schools and in 1955 graduated from WMU with a BA in History and Political Science. Don worked at Central Iron and Metal, a paper and metal recycling firm on the north side founded by his father in 1935. In 1957, he married Elisabeth Morrison from Chicago and brought her back to Kalamazoo. Don and Elisabeth have three sons, Aron, Andrew and Robert, daughters-in-law Lorraine, Nancy, and MaryJane, and six grandchildren, Cameron, Olivia, Joshua, Joseph, Robert, and Victoria. He has a single living cousin, Paula Leven. Don was a member of the Congregation of Moses, where he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in 1945. He was a Freemason and a Shriner and a long-time member and officer of The International Knights of the Round Table, a fraternal public-service organization. In 1963, Don was elected as trustee on the Kalamazoo Township board, and in 1972, he was elected Township Clerk, a post he held for the next 44 years until his retirement in 2016 at age 84. He often talked about how much he loved his interactions with his colleagues and the public he served. Don also served as police commissioner and was chief election official for the Township, training hundreds of election officials and overseeing decades of elections. He was famous for manning the dunk-tank at the Westwood Ice Cream Social. In 1993, Governor John Engler appointed Don to a two-year term on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Site Review Board. He was a member of the Kalamazoo Wastewater Advisory Board. He was on the executive committee of the Kalamazoo County Council of Governments and was a past president of the Kalamazoo County Clerks' Association. Don served as President of the Michigan Township Association (MTA) Kalamazoo Country Chapter. The MTA is an organization of 1,235 Michigan townships with over 6,500 elected officials. In 1983 Don was elected to MTA board of directors and in 1997, he was elected state-wide President. He will be remembered by all as a kind, friendly guy with a sharp wit who loved his friends and family. He leaves behind a legacy of public service and caring for others. Services will be held 1 o'clock Tuesday, August 6th at the Langeland Family Funeral Homes Burial & Cremation Services, 3926 S 9th St. Kalamazoo, MI 49009. Visitation will be 6-8pm Monday at the chapel. Interment will be in Grand Prairie Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Congregation of Moses, 2501 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo, Michigan or the Shriner's Hospital for Children. Please visit Don's personalized webpage for directions, online guestbook, or to leave a condolence. www.langelands.com.