DONALD MASON WELLS
02/16/1930 to 03/25/2021
Don was the second of four children born to Samuel Ellis Wells and Gertrude Leota Talley Wells in Oxnard, CA. He grew up in Simi, CA, and graduated from Simi High School in 1947. He married Carolyn Vivian Hitchcock in 1953, and had two daughters, Trudi and Donna. After a divorce, he married Marilynn (Lynn) Chory in 1963, and had one daughter, Jennifer.
After serving five years in the U.S. Navy as an electronics technician, Don attended Ventura College, and was then employed by the University of Southern California at Pt. Mugu, CA, as a wind tunnel technician. He later worked as a computer programmer and a computer software career followed at the Navy Astronautics Group at Pt. Mugu. He went on to accept a position at the Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme, CA, where he retired as a Division Director in June 1987.
Don loved sports and lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Simi High. Later sports included water and snow skiing, fishing, golf and bowling. He got his pilot’s license and flew a Comanche 250 aircraft.
Don leaves behind his daughters, Trudi Farschman, Donna Petersen and Jennifer Komatsu, three grandchildren, one great granddaughter, his sister, Gwen Carty, and his younger brother, John Wells. His older brother, Sidney Wells, predeceased him. Lynn passed away in November 2020.
No services are planned.