By Emily L. Domayer–
Don Domayer, a math tutor at Morningside, will retire after 18 years at the college. “This will be a big deal for me. I’ve worked here at Morningside for eighteen years and I’m 61 years old.”
Don has worked or taken college courses since he was 17. “That’s 44 years. My wife, Jannette, has already retired this year, along with the federal judge who hired her.” Don recalls, “I helped build a supermarket in San Diego when I was 19. I had a work-study job in college at the University of Iowa’s Cancer Research Division as a rat surgeon. I drove the campus bus too.”
After college, Don worked for a while as a loan officer. Then he helped create a campus-wide alarm system for Des Moines Osteopathic School. He assisted the Polk County Sheriff’s office with surveillance and communications. Jobs that Don also had include garbage collector and roofer.
In 1981, Don and his wife moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in police communication and surveillance at a 911 center. “We saved our money, and after five years, we moved back to Iowa to buy a house and have a child in a safe environment.”
Don taught math and electronics at a technical college in Des Moines and then had an opportunity to work on military electronics with Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids. “Along the way, we had a child named Emily. My wife Jannette was accepted to law school at the University of Iowa, where we had met 13 years before. “
After Don’s wife graduated from law school, she had a job offer to work as a federal attorney in Sioux City. “She called me one day at Collins Radio and asked if I would leave my job and move to Sioux City,” Don remembers. “I said yes, even though I had just been promoted at my job. I had to take a chance for my wife.”
Don began working at Morningside College in 1994. He managed the student computer program, in which every student received his or her own computer. “After 11 joyful years of working with students, faculty and staff, John Reynders and Bill Deeds gave me the chance to become a math tutor,” Don said.
He sat in on math classes to be better prepared to assist in tutoring math. Don noted that he felt, “privileged to work with my friend Regina Bade and all my friends in the math department at Morningside. I have been treated with great kindness by the faculty, staff and students at Morningside. I am grateful. “
Don and his wife feel that they have saved and invested for a comfortable retirement. He is building a houseboat to fulfill his lifelong dream of sailing down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Don and his wife plan to retire in Sioux City. “I have lived my life helping others. I hope that I can continue helping my friends at Morningside after I retire.”
Leave a Reply