Donald Keith Score

Donald Keith Score passed away on Thursday, March 30, 2017 due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.

Don was born January 5, 1931 in Colfax, North Dakota, to Axel Score and Lula Conder Score, the youngest of five children. He is preceded in death by his siblings Marjorie, Wallace, Phyllis and Frank.

Don's father passed away when he was 14 years old. As a result, he worked the fall wheat harvest, missing the first 6 weeks of school every year to harvest wheat as far away as Kansas and Oklahoma.

He served in the U.S. Army as a sergeant and was stationed in Korea during the war from 1951-1953.

After being honorably discharged from the military, he was co-owner with his brothers of the appropriately named "Score Brothers Trucking." He then became an independent owner-operator for several years.

He married Beverly Ann Adams on December 30, 1958, in Abercrombie, ND. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to San Diego, CA. Don worked as an apprentice electrician for Convair. While Beverly worked as a registered nurse, Don went back to school at San Diego State where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Business and heard President John F. Kennedy speak at his commencement exercise in 1963.

While living in San Diego, Don had season tickets for the San Diego Chargers during their first several years of existence. He always enjoyed watching the heated rivalries in the AFL and later the AFC West, especially between the Chargers, Raiders and Chiefs.

After graduating college Don went to work for the Social Security Administration. This led to moving their family around Southern California quite a bit. They lived in San Diego twice, Tucson, AZ, Hawthorne, Oceanside, Palm Springs and Banning. During that time they had three children: Tim, born in San Diego in 1960; Jane, born in Hawthorne in 1963 and Jennifer, born in Oceanside in 1966.

In 1971, Don transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he worked in Food and Nutrition Services. The family moved to Concord, CA that year, where Don and Bev have lived ever since.

Don retired from the federal government in 1986. He went to work with some friends driving automobiles for Budget car sales. He enjoyed the camaraderie and conversation as they drove cars from lot to lot and dealer to dealer.

Don was always very involved in his church. He and Bev were members of Concordia Lutheran in Concord from 1971 until 1996, when they joined Saint Matthew in Walnut Creek until the present time. Don spent many hours working in various positions on the church council.

Don enjoyed working with the youth, and spent many years doing so. He was involved in the Y Indian Guides; he coached Little League baseball teams, and he held positions on the church council working with the youth.

He loved to serve. He loved to tell stories. He loved people. He loved meeting new people and renewing old friendships. He would often strike up conversations with complete strangers.

Don is survived by his wife of 58 years, Beverly, and their three children: Tim (Ann), Jane Rasely (Jeff), and Jennifer Esquivel (Roland). Don and Beverly have nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren with a fifth on the way.

Funeral services will be held at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church located at 399 Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek, at 2:00pm on Saturday, April 15. Don will be interred at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon. The military funeral will be held at the cemetery on Friday, April 14, at 2:30pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Don's name to Saint Matthew Lutheran Church at http://saintmatthew.org/give or the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org.

We give back to you, O God, those whom you gave to us.
You did not lose them when you gave them to us, and we do not lose them by their return to you.
Your dear Son has taught us that life is eternal and love cannot die.
So death is only an horizon and an horizon is only the limit of our sight.

William Penn