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Don meets a new friend while visiting Kiwanians in Malaysia.
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Born leader
Great leadership relies on an intimate understanding of responsibility and dedication. Kiwanis International should rest assured knowing its 2008-09 President has lived those traits since, well, birth.
Donald R. “Don” Canaday was born during the Great Depression in the small southern Illinois town of West Frankfort. His father was a coal miner who also took additional jobs to provide for his family of eight.
Don was the oldest son. To help his family, he always kept a paper route and, like his father, took odd jobs, including sacking groceries, making bakery deliveries before school, and hauling coal.
“I was unauthorized," Don notes with a twinkle in his eye, "but I drove a semi-trailer before I drove my first car."
Don describes his mother as his best friend and remembers how she played the violin and piano. He also remembers how she fought cancer. He didn’t think twice about cooking for the family and caring for his younger siblings.
She passed away when Don was 22.
“The highlight of her life,” he says, “was when I received my commission from the Army—on her birthday. She got to pin on one of my gold bars.”
Don’s decorated 25-year Army career actually happened by accident, beginning when he was drafted at age 20.
“I was a private, and I thought I would do my two years and then go on with my life,” he says. Within six months, he was attending officers’ school, pegged by superiors as “officer material.” From the 85 people who began with him in officers’ school, Don was among only 13 who graduated.
Things didn’t get easier from there. Don’s first assignment was airborne. And after making 89 parachute jumps, he still claimed: “Even then I didn’t plan to make a career out of it.”
But when he got his first orders, and they were for Alaska?
“I love to hunt and fish—so I couldn’t pass that up!” he laughs.
He was promoted to captain and selected as the only Army man to reside on a US Air Force base where, he says, he was treated like royalty and received two Air Force commendation medals.
Like many in his generation, he was sent to Vietnam. Like many, it was a challenging time for Don, who, among other events, was shot down in a helicopter.
It was through the Army that he found two lifelong loves: Kiwanis and Linda.
Linda Gale was from North Carolina and was teaching middle school in Augusta, Georgia.
“The mother of one of Linda’s students was married to a friend of mine, and I invited myself over to their home—that’s where I met Linda,” Don says.
The two were married July 4, 1981. (This past Fourth of July, Don and Linda quietly celebrated their 27th anniversary at home, preparing for Linda's surgery the following Tuesday and, thereafter, trips to Alaska and Australia. Sadly, through complications following the surgery, Linda died July 16.)
Don achieved the rank of Brigadier General during his military career. By the end of Don’s "accidental" military stint, he had received 23 honors and decorations, including two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, two awards of the meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the senior Parachute Wings.
Success and honors followed him into civilian life. In 2004, when Don was awarded Butler University's prestigious John Morton-Finney Award for Public Service in 2004, these words ushered him to the stage:
This year’s recipient has clearly walked in the shoes of Dr. Morton-Finney: He was born into abject poverty during the Great Depression and joined the Army seeking both service and opportunity. He dedicated himself to both. ...
... But it was as Kiwanian that this year’s recipient was at his best. He served as distinguished president for two Kiwanis clubs, served as district governor, and, as membership growth chairman, oversaw the establishment of 72 new clubs and the induction of 800 members—all sharing his passion for service to the state and to the nation. …
Responsibility. Dedication. Don Canaday. |
