Donald G. Morton, 82 passed away on March 30 in Hoover, Alabama. Born in Oklahoma, he was the son of Joseph and Jessie Marie Morton, also of Oklahoma. He enjoyed a long career in sales and then with Servicemaster into his 50’s, when he established Cardinal, Inc., which provided cleaning services for Redstone Arsenal. After great success with that company, he and his son-in-law, Phillip LaShum, founded DAPA Products, a Jasper-based plastics manufacturing company. Although semi-retired, at age 82 he was still active in the company. He and wife Bettye also loved traveling all over the country in their motorhome. He was a longstanding member of Discovery United Methodist Church of Hoover and enjoyed giving devotionals at Firehouse Shelter. For many years, he spent Thanksgiving with his daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren serving dinner at the Salvation Army. Don will be remembered for his unique sense of humor and telling-it-like-it-is candor, along with his love of football and NASCAR. He is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Jessie Marie Morton, his first wife, Theresa Morton, Mary LaShum (daughter), Lynne Letcher (step-daughter), Matt LaShum (grandson), Danny LaShum (grandson), Jeff Morgan (grandson), David Logan (grandson) and Dorian Bell (great-grandson). He is survived by his wife Bettye Morton, daughter Debbie Morgan (Bill) of Birmingham, Connie Hillman (Mike) of Cypress, TX, Michelle Bowers (Jason) of The Colony, TX and son-in-law Phillip LaShum of Jasper. He is also survived by step-daughters Terry Woodard of Adamsville, AL, Julie Smith of Atlanta, GA and Laurie Skellie of Birmingham. In addition, he is survived by his beloved grandaughter and caregiver, Melissa West of Hoover, and other beloved grandchildren Perry, Melanie, Mary Beth, Kathie, Craig, Katie, Kyle, Shannon, Bert, Chris, Jimmy, a host of great-grandchildren, great-great grand-children, brothers Norman, Charles, Joe and Mike, and his dog Sugar. The funeral service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 2 at Ridout’s Elmwood Chapel, followed by a graveside service at Elmwood Cemetery. Visitation will be held prior to the funeral service, from 2:30 – 3:30 pm at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or Discovery United Methodist Church in Hoover.
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