Don E. Lenhardt, 89, passed away peacefully in his sleep early November 26, 2022 in St Louis County, MO after a long battle with non-tremor Parkinson’s Disease. 

A memorial party to celebrate Don’s life is on Saturday, April 1st, 2023 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the American Legion Hall in Kirkwood MO.

Don was always a hard worker and started working for Phillips Petroleum when he was only 19 years old, managing to work his way up to being the Supply and Shipping Department Supervisor, responsible for eight employees and even established Supply and Shipping Departments when new divisions opened in New Jersey and Indiana.  After almost 20 years he moved to Storz Instrument Company as the Shipping and Receiving Manager purchasing shipping equipment, negotiating rates, scheduling air freight and truck shipments, and approving freight bills.  Don then moved to own and operate his own local cartage, air freight and truckload company, Cargo Wings, Inc. in which he also served as the Sales Manager since he was so good at connecting to his clients and providing what they needed for 5 years until the markets changed and he had to move on.  He then went to work as a Spann Building Maintenance Company Project Manager supervising several cleaning and maintenance crews for office buildings as well as payroll.  Don retired from Spann, but soon became restless and went to work part-time at The Travel Company couriering tickets.  After a few years he was contacted by a previous supervisor asking Don to come work for him, but he demurred and negotiated a role that worked for him as an ABM Janitorial Services Quality Assurance Auditor inspecting buildings and performing payroll audits instead of a direct supervisor for another 10 years, finally actually retiring in 2010 after 58 years of continuous work at various jobs.  Even with Don’s strong work ethic, he was able to enjoy his passions throughout his life and loved traveling with Kathy to Las Vegas, numerous cruises, and especially Hawaii.  His loved going to the horse and dog tracks, casinos, playing poker, and slots; several of his Vegas trips ended up financed from his winnings.  He passed his love of the horse track to his grandchildren who often accompanied him his birthday weekend annually for several years.  The love of westerns fit right in as well as listening to country music, though he made an exception for Celine Dion, whom he loved to hear sing.  Don loved reading his newspaper every day and watching the St Louis Cardinals.  He loved hosting and barbequing for family gatherings, though he and Kathy also liked to go out dancing with friends.

Don is survived by his wife of 31 years, Kathryn Barr Lenhardt; daughter, Joyce Wulfmeier; foster daughter, Holly Cook; step-children, Thomas (Laura) Pruneau, Jr, K. Elizabeth (Art) Gebbia; grandchildren, Alyssa (Andrew Strosnider) Pruneau, Cassie Wulfmeier, James and Jeremy Pruneau, and his great grandson Onyx Strosnider; cousins Bill Mort and Phyllis Salazar.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Viola De Bonnaire and Eugene Lenhardt; his much loved Aunt Catherine (Mimi) De Bonnaire, adopted daughter, Lynn York; his precious granddaughters, Jennelle Wulfmeier and Janet Pruneau; and cousins Jane Genta and Joan Mort.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers memorial donations should be made to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA) Missouri Chapter, 16100 Chesterfield Parkway, Ste. 125, Chesterfield, MO 63017