Donald Decker

November 14, 1935 - December 22, 2022

Donald Deckard, 87, passed away on December 22, 2022. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, the only child of Melvin Deckard and Ivy Stewart Deckard, Don was a math prodigy growing up. Well-known among his teachers for doing his math homework in pen – the height of mathematical confidence – he took calculus classes at Lamar University while still in high school. As a boy, he also visited the local airfield with his father, bumming plane rides from his father’s pilot friends, where he contracted a virulent case of aviation fever. Don went on to earn a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Rice University, and worked, variously, at (then) Humble (now Exxon) Oil developing drilling formulas, Lockheed Martin calculating re-entry paths for the Space Shuttle, and at a number of universities teaching mathematics and computer science.

Don was also a single dad to two children at a time when that was unusual. His kids learned early not to ask him for help with their math homework, as he would first critique the textbook and then set about deriving the applicable mathematical concepts from first principles. An hour later, the underlying theory has been explained in exquisite detail, but the homework problem was still not done. In this way, he instilled mathematical self-sufficiency in his kids, both of whom went on to become engineers.

In the 1970s, Don was finally able to earn his private pilot's license and buy a small single-engine plane, which he affectionately named “the Pavo.” He eventually upgraded to a twin-engine plane and took any excuse to fly, shuttling his friends, children, and grandchildren around the country, and sometimes missing Christmas because he was stranded at some airport along the route due to bad weather. If Don wasn’t flying, he was reading about flying or talking about flying. After suffering a series of strokes in 2010, he moved to College Station to live with his daughter and her family, but he continued to read his Flying magazine and watch documentaries about airplanes, old and new.

He is preceded in death by his parents and his son, Carl Deckard. He leaves behind his daughter Lucy Deckard and son-in-law Terry Creasy, grandchildren Thomas Deckard and partner Zae, Michael Deckard and wife Chelsea, Emily Creasy, and Benjamin Creasy, and his long-time best friend Carl Pearcy. The family wishes to thank long-time caregivers Erin Knight of Visiting Angels and Scott Riley of Home Instead for their help throughout the years.