Donald Eugene Bastian, 85, of Hannibal, Mo., died at 2:47 a.m., Sunday, July 31, 2016, at Willow Care Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Hannibal.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 6, 2016, at the First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Nick Davis and Pastor Matt Ver Meer will officiate. Burial with Full Military Honors conducted by the Emmette J. Shields America Legion Post 55 will be in the Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, August 5, 2016, at Smith Funeral Home & Chapel.
Mr. Bastian was born January 25, 1931, in Hannibal to Howard Perkins and Mildred Martha Bastian. He graduated from Hannibal High School in 1948 and attended Hannibal-LaGrange College (where he was co-captain of the basketball team) and the University of Missouri.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army in December 1952. During his service in the Army, he was stationed in Germany and worked on aircraft, including the Cessna L-19 Bird Dog. When he returned home from the Army, he was employed with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, where he worked as a fireman and trained as an engineer on steam and diesel locomotives on the Burlington Route in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.
On March 4, 1956, he married Carolyn Jean Fisher from Hannibal. She preceded him in death May 7, 2011. After his marriage, he attended Ranken Technical College in St. Louis, where he learned the trade of lithographic platemaking. He worked for many years with Standard Printing Company. Later in life, he obtained his commercial driver's license and drove semi-trailer trucks on long-haul drives across the United States.
He earned his private pilot license in 1976, and enjoyed sharing his love of airplanes with family and friends. In 1969, he flew to Alaska in a Cessna 172 with his friends, Dr. Thomas Fischer and Harold Prow, stopping several times along the way to deliver greetings from the city of Hannibal in celebration of its Sesquicentennial. An avid outdoorsman and conservationist, he also enjoyed mushroom hunting, bird hunting, and fishing in the U.S. and Canada. In his later years, he developed an interest in photography and enjoyed taking pictures of scenery, birds and wildlife. He had a strong love of family and proudly championed the achievements of his children and grandchildren. He enjoyed attending monthly luncheons with members of his High School Class of 1948 and helping others in the community. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, where he had served as an elder and a deacon. He was active in the local community, a member of the American Legion, and was Past President of the Lion's Club and the Hannibal Country Club.
Survivors include one brother, Robert Lee Bastian, of Hannibal; two sons, James Howard Bastian (Deborah) and Donald McMaster Bastian (Jeanne), both of Hannibal; one daughter, Hallie ("Holly") Martha Bastian (Steven Payne), of Dunn Loring, Va.; six grandchildren, Jeffrey Bradford Bastian (Andrea), of Kansas City, Thomas Andrew Bastian (Meggan), of Jefferson City, Brigette Elizabeth Bastian and Anna Caroline Bastian, both of Hannibal, Miki Atkins, of Phoenix, Az.; and James Allan Atkins, of Chicago, Il.; two nephews, William McMaster Fisher (Renee) and James Joseph Birney Fisher, both of Hannibal; along with two grandnephews, two grandnieces, a great-grandniece, a great-grandnephew, and a great-grandson.
Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church or the Northeast Missouri Humane Society, in care of Smith Funeral Home & Chapel.
Pallbearers will be Jeffrey Bradford Bastian, Thomas Andrew Bastian, James Allan Atkins, William McMaster Fisher, James Joseph Birney Fisher and Ryan McMaster Fisher.
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