Donald was born on December 4, 1933, to Herman and Mary Moore Locke in Hartselle, AL. He was the first of 4 children, followed by Claries, Doyle, and Anne. He was married to Geraldine Legg for 61 years and father to Jannette Behnke, grandfather to Melinda Collier and great-grandfather to Anniston, Ridge, Tripp, and Cecilia.
He was a Christian, inventor, mechanic, machinist, carpenter, and teacher. Donald’s father passed when Donald was only 12 years old, leaving the responsibility of keeping the family together and surviving him. He went to school, but went to work every day, too.
Growing up during the Depression and the aftermath of it in a logging camp in Hillwood, he learned the value of making things work with nothing. Later, when his family came back to Morgan County, they lived in sharecropper homes, homes in which they watched chickens peck the ground through gapped floorboards.
He worked several jobs in his late teens, going across the Midwest to wherever the work was. He always sent a portion of his check home to his mother to help with keeping a house and food. For a few years he worked in Chicago as a machinist.
In 1956 he was drafted into the Navy. That lasted 5 minutes. He was switched to the Army where he spent his time in missile defense. He was an SP4 at the Westbury, CT Nike and Ajax Missile Command for the northeast defense. With his exceptionable knowledge, he soon became the second in charge of the base as a private. When the commander was off base, he would be in control of the missile launch system. Donald recalled the smile he’d wear when majors had to reluctantly salute him due to his position.
After Donald’s discharge, he came back home to Hartselle and reconnected with Geraldine. They married a short time later and moved to Chicago. After a couple of years there, they bought land in Hartselle and started working towards having their first real home. With help from friends and family, they built a house and garage.
Always at night and Saturdays he was working on something, repairing, building or making something he had thought would work. The first of many campers he built was on the back of an international pickup. Then came the blue laundry truck conversion into a motorhome. Soon after, he took 2 1971 VW vans, combining them to make the red “roadrunner” camper. This one took them to all 48 lower states, across Canada, and into Mexico. The last one he built with his wife was small transit bus that became the finest one yet.
While working as a machinist in Cullman for Greif Bros., he also kept up with his “projects”. During the 70’s and 80’s there was always a steady stream of men and sometimes their teenage sons coming by to find out how to fix their car of farm equipment, often caught in the awe of “how did he do that”. He always taught them how to do it themselves and to save money doing it. He always taught that knowledge was free to those wanting to learn, a lesson taught to him by his uncles. That type of thinking allowed him to envision parts or simple machines to make jobs easier. Many of his inventions made from scrap or recycled parts are still in use today.
He was a member of Oak Ridge Methodist Church for most of his life. He served as Sunday School Teacher and Secretary for many of those years. Him and some of his church friends built, remodeled, and repaired things at the church.
During the final years of his life, he enjoyed every minute he got to see his great-grandchildren, showing them his “chines” in his garage and how they worked, as well as telling them all the stories he could. In his last days, he made sure his daughter knew he never wanted her to change and made sure his granddaughter knew he was proud of her.
He is resting now with Geraldine and his family. Jesus was waiting on him to welcome him home. Dad, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, you will be so sorely missed. Funeral Service will be Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 1:00PM at Peck Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Phillip Collier officiating. And Peck Funeral Home directing. Burial will be in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday, August 25, 2026 from 6:00PM-8:00PM at the funeral home.
