Don Simoneau started his life out in the—now long gone—little hospital in Atascadero in the early 60s, and since then, other than his time in the military and a stint in Texas to help a friend build a house, he’s called the North County home.
Coming from a large (Don is one of ten boys) and long-standing military family, with his grandfather serving in the Army in WWI, his father serving in the Army in WWII, two of his older brothers being drafted into the Army, and another older brother joining the Navy, it was no surprise when Don decided to follow in their footsteps. However, he did break tradition when he decided to join the Air Force.
“I was going to graduate from Atascadero High School in 1978, and like in 1977, I realized I boo-booed my way along there pretty good, and I was never going to make it anywhere, so I thought, okay, I’m going to join up into the Air Force and see if I can get a career and go see some of the rest of the world,” Don said about his decision to enlist.
In fact, he was so set on joining the Air Force that he pre-signed up almost a year in advance with early registration.
“I knew that the Air Force and the Navy seemed to go more for the brains than the brawn. So I tested for both of them, but then I’m not a really good swimmer, and the thought of getting stuck out in the ocean for seven or eight months at a time kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies. So, I went ahead and went with the Air Force, and for some reason, they took me,” joked Don.
He also needed his parent’s permission to sign up, as he was still 17 when he headed off to basic training a month after graduation. He turned 18 later that year.
“A month after graduation, I was gone to basic training,” stated Don.
After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Don headed to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, for the next 27 weeks for Technical School.
“I was a telephone equipment repairman. That put me in the central office where you do all the telephone number assigning, troubleshooting, and sending people out to repair bad telephones or telephone lines,” Don added.
After his time in the middle of the country, preparing for his next assignment, the Air Force asked him what his preferences were for his next station.
“I put down anywhere on the West Coast. Second choice was anywhere in America. So they sent me to Germany,” Don said deadpan. “So, then I was assigned to Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.”
Don was in the Air Force for four years in total before returning to the Central Coast, but his timing was off, as Pacific Bell was doing massive layoffs, and jobs for people who worked with telephones were unavailable. Instead, he started working for an insulation company before heading out to the oil fields for three years. Proceeding this, he started doing electrical work for a general contractor. It was when that job came to a close that Don applied to work for the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD).
“I was with the school district for 26 years. I just retired a year ago this December,” declared Don.
When Don was working in construction, he always said that he would never go into plumbing or roofing. Initially, he was hired as a general maintenance man for PRJUSD, but then, in a turn of events, Don was officially hired as the district’s plumber, which he continued to do for 24 of his 26 years working for them.
“In that 26 years, I watched kids progress all the way through and graduate out. I still run into some of those kids,” added Don.
From a romantic standpoint, Don found true love in the early 1990s because both he and his wife, Kim, had classic red and candy-white VW buses. At this time, they were living in Paso Robles.
“We waved to each other for at least a year. Driving around town, we’d see each other in our red and white VW busses, and we’d wave to each other,” Don said.
They officially met later when there was a Volkswagen car show in Paso. That’s also where Don met both of Kim’s daughters, Kelly and Michelle. A month later, they both ended up at the post office, where Kim asked Don to look at the heater in her van. He fixed the heaters on her van, and that’s when Kim asked him what she owed him.
“I said you need to make me dinner, and that’s how it all came to be,” Don said with a little laugh.
For the last 11 years, Don and Kim have been giving back to the veteran community through Honor Flight, a non-profit that takes veterans to Washington, D.C. They started by hosting welcome home BBQs for vets returning from their Honor Flight alongside their daughter Michelle and her husband Josh. Now, the couple runs recruiting booths at local events, and three years ago, Don officially became a guardian, helping other vets on their Honor Flights.
That first year, he was the guardian for a Korean War vet. He’s now gone three times. On the last trip, he was the assistant bus leader, making all the phone calls and coordinating the whole trip. Honor Flight has every intention of making him the official bus leader on an upcoming trip.
Don also plays the role of Atascadero’s beloved Santa every winter. And any money that he raises at private events during the Holiday Season is directly donated to Honor Flight.
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