Donald Lee Painter

Don was born on January 17, 1947 to the late Harvey Painter and Gladys Skoog at Mercy Hospital in Denver, Colorado. He met his beloved wife, Sharon Kay Rundle, in Jr. High School and they married on June 7, 1965. Don spent the majority of his career working for IBM where he held various positions starting on the computer assembly line at IBM’s Boulder, Colorado plant and then transferred to their Research Triangle Park assembly plant in Durham, North Carolina. Don was then promoted to the role of Customer Engineer for their Typewriter Division and transferred to Kansas City, Missouri. Later, he joined the Copier Division after being promoted to Regional Copier Specialist. Don’s role as Specialist earned him a promotion to Customer Engineering Manager at the IBM field office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Finally, Don had the opportunity to move back to Denver to be closer to family and took on a new position in Copier Sales. The IBM Copier Division was acquired by Kodak where Don ultimately retired and moved back to North Carolina.

Don enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, family, friends, neighbors and road trips to the Carolina coast with Sharon. He cherished playing cards with his mom, dad, brothers and sister anytime they could get together. His favorite weekly activities included bowling and playing golf with his close friends in Cary. Don would never turn down an opportunity for gummies, cigars or a neighborhood poker game!

Don is preceded in death by his parents, Harvey Painter and Gladys Skoog, and his son, Charles Painter.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Sharon Painter; sister, Julie Klahn; brothers, Charles Painter and Bruce Painter; son, Brad Painter (m. Heather); grandchildren, Matthew, Jordan (m. Austin), Brooke and Jake. Don was also proud of his many beloved nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association (https://www.diabetes.org) or the Autism Society of North Carolina (https://www.autismsociety-nc.org).