Charles Donald Paton

Charles Donald Paton, 91, passed away on December 1, 2021 in Sandpoint, Idaho. Private family services will be held at a later date. Don was born on June 26, 1930 in Tulsa, Oklahoma the son of Orval Mckinley Paton and Kathryn Rupert. Don was raised in New Mexico and enjoyed hunting and fishing with his father and friends. In 1950, he went to the University of New Mexico and enjoyed mechanical drawing. He was called to the Army on May 7, 1951 through 1953 and he served with the 73rd AAA Battalion and went to Germany. He worked for IBM and transferred to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he met Nancy Edgar and the were married on October 8, 1955. He would move to Phoenix and worked injecting molding for years. He was president of Society of Plastic Engineers and was a masonic member. Don spent 20 years going from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Phoenix and Idaho enjoying the changing of the seasons. Don loved to play handball, bicycling, hiking in the New Mexico desert and teaching himself geology with his niece and nephew Tammy and Patric Lane. Don is survived by his three children; Natalie (Nelson) LaPan, Daniel (Kathy) Paton and Kimberly (Stratton) Kernodle; his grandchildren Grey Arones, Sara and James Byrne, Shayna and Mark Hutchins, Kevin Paton, Cyntia and Barry Sivadon, Sheldon and Marissa Kernodle, Skyler and Kristin Kernodle; along with 6 great grandchildren. He was loved and will be missed by all. Please get your COVID vaccination to protect others like my dad!