Don C. Poulson
Don Chastain Poulson, 73, an engineer whose career took him halfway around the world but who always called Virginia his home, died peacefully April 30, 2011, in Staunton, surrounded by his family.
Mr. Poulson was born Sept. 1, 1937, in Hartford City, Indiana, to James Henry and Bernice (Chastain) Poulson. His parents brought the family to Virginia in 1945, settling first in Staunton and then in Waynesboro.
He was a graduate of Waynesboro High School and attended Woodberry Forest School for a year before entering the University of Oklahoma. Graduating in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, he entered that profession, following in the footsteps of his father.
While serving in the U.S. Army 1962-64 as an engineering instructor at Ft. Belvoir, Va., Mr. Poulson met Carol Hammack of Front Royal, Va., a registered nurse at the University of Virginia Hospital, Charlottesville. They married on Aug. 17, 1964.
After the Army, Mr. Poulson's career took him to engineering assignments with the DuPont Co. in Waynesboro, Va., and Seaford and Newark, Del. He ran his own design and contracting business in Charlottesville for six years, and then joined the H.K. Ferguson Co. as an engineer working on projects in Cleveland, Ohio, and Williamsburg, Va.
In 1979 Mr. Poulson accepted a position in engineering and project management with the Arabian American Oil Co., and moved with his wife and three sons to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where he worked the next 15 years. Mr. Poulson and his wife were there in 1990 when the armed forces of Iraq overran the neighboring country of Kuwait. The Poulson boys were attending school in the United States at the time, but their parents stayed in Saudi Arabia throughout the first Gulf War, periodically taking shelter from fragments of Iraqi missiles shot down by U.S. Patriot anti-missile rockets in the sky overhead.
Upon his retirement in 1994, Mr. Poulson and his wife moved to Port Republic, Va., where they restored an historic house and were active in community affairs and volunteering for the Society of Port Republic Preservationists. When his health declined Mr. Poulson and his wife moved in 2010 to 24 Shannon Place in Staunton, not far from the home of his eldest son Stephen and his family.
He was a lifelong Presbyterian, serving as an elder of the Massanutten Presbyterian Church, and more recently was a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Staunton. While living in Port Republic he was a board member of the Rockingham County Habitat for Humanity organization.
All who knew him remember Don Poulson for his quiet good humor, his unfailing diligence to whatever job was at hand, his devotion to his family and his loyalty to his many friends.
Survivors include his wife Carol of Staunton; sons Stephen Poulson and his wife Christine of Staunton, John Poulson and his wife Carol Ann of St, Petersburg, Fla., and William Poulson and his wife Kim of Boise, Idaho; grandchildren James and Jack of St. Petersburg, Benjamin and Sidney of Staunton, and Finn of Boise; sister Patricia Plymell and her husband Owen of Colorado Springs, Colo.; brother Thad Poulson and his wife Sandy of Sitka, Alaska, and a dozen nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family requests donations to the charity of your choice in lieu of flowers. Coffman Funeral Home and Crematory, 230 Frontier Drive in Staunton is in charge of his arrangements.
Condolences may be sent to the family online at Coffman Funeral Home.