Donald Alexander PINARD

Life ended as the new year began for Donald Alexander Pinard, 69, a 49-year resident of the Victor Valley. His neighbor and friend, Angie McNeeley, found the retired Kaiser Permanente executive in his Lucerne Valley residence last Saturday, New Year’s Day, apparently never waking from his last New Year’s Eve sleep. Pinard moved to Lucerne Valley at the conclusion of his service in the United States Army, which included a tour of duty in Korea at the end of the Korean War. His parents, Clifford D. and Florence Pinard, had moved to the valley in 1956, purchasing the Valley View Ranch on Christiansen Road. He was born in Los Angeles on July 27, 1935. Other than a few years during World War II when the family resided in Arlington, Va., he lived in Hawthorne, where he attended St. JosephÕs School, then graduated from Mt. Carmel High School Los Angeles in 1953. Pinard hired on at the new Cushenbury cement operation of Kaiser Permanente in the winter of 1956. Working in a variety of jobs in the early years of the giant cement operation, Pinard settled into the purchasing department and eventually worked his way up to be in charge of purchasing. By the late 1970s, Pinard left the Cushenbury operation and took specialized assignments with Permanente, first in San Jose and then at mining operations in Indonesia. He retired in 1979. Pinard then established himself as a consultant and completed assignments with international cement companies in Freeport, Bahamas; Africa and San Antonio, Texas ,through the mid-1980s.Married in 1957 to Karen Lee Klosman (now Hilker, of Oceanside), whose parents Jay and Gertrude operated the Hitching Post Restaurant, Don would often assist in the family business. They had two daughters. The first, Jana, died in a traffic mishap in 1982. Her son, Joshua Gallagher, lives in New York. Their second daughter is Julie Pinard Verhagen. Grandchildren are Destiny Carroll, John Jay Verhagen, Cheyne Verhagen, Tiana Verhagen, Julian Pinard, and one great-grandson, Rylin Carroll. All are in San Clemente. Following a divorce, Pinard married Sheila Candow in 1987. She resides with the coupleÕs son, Donald Alec Pinard, 17, in Ajax, Ontario, Canada. Four brothers survive: John W. ÒJackÓ Pinard of Port Hueneme, Thomas C. Pinard of Wrightwood, Richard ÒLouieÓ Pinard of Rosarito Beach, Mexico, and James K. Pinard of Templeton. A sister, Pamela Marie Turner, and brother, Clifford Pinard, preceded Don in death. Memorial services are pending at St. PaulÕs Catholic Church in Lucerne Valley. Inurnment will follow at Lucerne Valley Cemetery. Dudley Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.