Don Byars

Donald Ray Byars, born April 14, 1936, of Ammon Idaho, passed away on December 15, 2020. He passed peacefully at home with his beloved wife, Carol, of 57 years right beside him taking care of him as she has always done.

Don was born in Berkeley, California, to Josephine and William (Bill) Byars and big sister Janet Byars (Hoevet), born into a family of iron workers from both his father and mother’s side. Don’s father died when he was 15 in a car accident which changed his life drastically.

When Don was a teenager, his mom remarried a man named James (Jim) Donald Jones, which he was thrilled about. Jim loved Don as his own until the day he died.

Don was a hard worker and worked a lot of odd jobs to take care of himself in his younger years. His best friend was his cousin, Robert (Bob) Byars. They had lots of wild adventures in their youth. One of their favorite things to do was torment their younger cousin, Charles (Chucky) Byars.

When Don was 27, he saw a mysterious flash through a window and was intrigued instantly. Carol Jean O’Neil wasn’t too impressed at first, and he stood at her window talking to her for months before she decided that he might be alright. On December 14, 1963, Carol made Don “the luckiest man on the planet,” as he used to say. They went on to have 2 children, Ronald Joseph and Sherri Lynn. Don and Carol met in Concord, California, then moved to Vista, then onto Livermore with the construction firm that Don worked for. While in Livermore, Don changed careers and started driving truck. Don and Carol ended up moving to Modesto and lived there for 33 years. He drove truck until he retired at 61 from the Teamsters, of which he was a member for over 25 years.

Now Don was a talker. He used to say that he never met a stranger. He would talk about any subject, he didn’t care. He could talk for hours, much to his wife and children’s dismay. He could never go anywhere without running into someone he knew whether it be in a different town or even another state.

Don being a huge car guy, remembered every detail about all the cars he owned throughout his life. His one true love, other than Carol, was a 56 Ford pickup. For years, he collected parts and two rough pickups that he planned on putting together to create one ultimate and amazing truck.

Don, Carol, and Jim, his stepdad, went through their biker phase, and all bought street bikes and rode for years. Don kept his love of motorcycles and had several trail bikes and eventually taught his kids to ride a Honda 50. After the passing of Don’s mom, Jim moved to the town next to Modesto to be close to Don and his family.

As Don and Carol made a life in Modesto, he enjoyed camping with his neighbors, sail boating, driving and skiing behind his jet boat on the lakes close to his home. The neighbors were a close-knit community and when not out camping, they were having massive water fights in the streets, playing ditch-in-the-dark, and making bazookas out of soda cans that could shoot a tennis ball so high in the air, you couldn’t even see it. He also loved to fly kites, having won a kite flying contest when he was a child was something he was extremely proud of. He later teamed up to help his son Ron build and win a kite flying contest.

Through the years, Don collected several old cars and trucks and vowed to restore them. Don and his son brought home a 1969 Ford Torino in boxes they deemed the basket case and worked diligently to put it together for Ron’s first car. Ron’s grandfather being a body man lovingly restored it. Don raised his family to work on, race, and love cars.

When Don’s son Ron was a junior in high school, he brought home a friend, Walter Grasmick. He started spending a lot of time around the family hanging out and working on cars. Don and Carol eventually took him into their home and hearts and loved him as their own. Walter soon married Don’s daughter Sherri and cemented his place in Don’s family.

On July 1st, 1993, Don and Carol lost their son, who was in the army and a diesel mechanic. It was an exceedingly difficult time, however Don and Carol fought to get through it together.

Ron had gotten married and had 3 handsome sons, James Lee, Matthew Ray Joseph, and Camron David. Walter and Sherri had a beautiful baby girl, Lindzey Elizabeth Grasmick, and later they welcomed Zachary Edward.

Don loved being a grandfather, though he would never hold the babies because he was always afraid that he would break them. Even so, he loved talking and whistling to them, and would also steal their noses every time. He was always so happy to see his grandchildren.

One year after the death of their son, Don and Carol gladly took custody of his three rambunctious boys and raised them until adulthood. Walter, Sherri, and Lindzey moved to Idaho. Don and Carol missed them so much and believed that it would be a better life for the boys if they were to be raised in Idaho running wild. They said goodbye to their beloved neighborhood, Carol said goodbye to her beautiful California and took the boys to Idaho. They moved out to a sprawling 6-acre property with a large home in Rigby, Idaho.

Don stayed in California, because he still had one year until retirement. Hating being apart but knowing that it was what was best for their grandsons, they made it work with lots of phone calls and Don coming for visits to Idaho as often as he could. Don joined the family in Idaho and shortly after he was diagnosed with diabetes. Even after retiring, Don drove truck for several different companies due to his exceptional skills, even working for Walter delivering trusses.

After the three grandsons grew up and moved out on their own, Don and Carol decided to downsize, sell the 6 acres, and moved into town.

Ron’s middle son Matt met a wonderful girl, Amanda Lynn, and they got married and had 3 of the most beautiful, sweet little girls, Hailey Lynn, Madison Rae, and Brynlee Jean. Don adored those girls, and they adored him.

Ron’s firstborn met a beautiful girl named Karissa. She had two adorable kids that James took as his own immediately.

Camron, Ron’s youngest son aspired to be a chef and has worked in the kitchens of several amazing restaurants. Don loved this fact because Lord, did that man love to eat. Carol and Don enjoyed going to the establishments to sample Camron’s cooking.

Sherri and Walter’s daughter, Lindzey, was the apple of her papa’s eye. Lindzey was the first one in Don’s little family to graduate from college, he was one proud Papa.

On February 5, 2015, Don was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and Dementia. He had a long, hard struggle ahead of him and Carol. Having hauled those two old, dented, broken-down ‘56 Ford pickups from California to Rigby, then to Ammon with the dream still alive to build one beautiful red truck. A few years before his diagnosis, he had started to build his dream however it hadn’t worked out. Walter decided in that moment to make Don’s dream come true. For almost 5 years, Walter has worked on building his truck.

Don had gone to all the car shows and meets and talked about someday having his ‘56 at these shows with his car buddies. After all those years of talking about it, 3 years ago, Walter took Big Red to her first car meet. Yes, she was still on a trailer, but finally Don got to show his red girl off. Within a few weeks Walter was driving to the car meets. Don was so full of pride and excitement. Slowly Walter got her put together, piece by piece, and finally it was time to take her to her first car show.

Don was shocked and thrilled when his name rang out from the speakers for best engine. For the next two car show seasons, they continued to win award after award, all the while working every weekend to finish the truck. When the ‘56 was almost completed, Don looked at Carol with wonder, saying “I never thought I would own something so beautiful.”

The Parkinson’s took a toll on Don’s body, forcing him to start using a cane, then a walker and scooter, onto a manual wheelchair, then finally a motorized wheelchair. With Carol by his side, they faced these tough challenges together, all the while Carol taking care of him around the clock. In his advanced stages of Parkinson’s, Carol needed help caring for him and every morning his angel nurse would come. He would tease her and rile her up and with a huge smile on her face, she would give it right back to him as good as he gave. He so enjoyed his mornings with Lorie Clark whom he and Carol grew to love as their own.

Carol was determined to keep Don at home with his family and Walter played a huge part in that. Carol would take care of Don as much as she could, while Walter would do the heavy lifting. Walter built a ramp and remodeled their master bathroom so it was accessible to his wheelchair. Walter would go every day and help Don however he could. Walter was the saving grace to his family, being on call 24/7 to do whatever Don and Carol needed so that Don could remain at home.

With the 2020 pandemic, Don and Carol were quarantined in their home to protect Don’s fragile condition. They spent much of their time outside enjoying their backyard, playing cards, talking and building Don’s car puzzles that the family kept him supplied with. Don also spent many hours in his garage admiring his beautiful truck.

In the last few months Don’s arms and hands started to fail him. The times that his hands were working, Don started going through his old car magazines and cutting out his favorites and creating a scrapbook. Don and Carol reminisced about their life and cherished their time together. On December 15, 2020, the day after their 57th wedding anniversary, Don passed away at home with Carol lovingly caring for him and where she had always been, right by his side.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests donation be made to the Bonneville Education Foundation. Once on the page, select the donation you would like or select other, then put in the gift notes 'in the name of Don Byars'. Then select the 'TCHS-Auto Tech Program' for the program to support.

Bonneville Education Foundation
3497 North Ammon Road, Idaho Falls ID 83401
Email: bef@d93mail.com
Web: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E333990&id=38