Don was born on February 3, 1918 in Butte, Montana and moved with his mother and brother and sisters to Hollywood when he was a young boy after his father died. His mother ran a boarding house in Hollywood. When he was 19 he got a job at Disney Studios on Hyperion Street in Los Angeles as an inker. He worked his way up to layout, background and art director. When Disney Studios moved to its Burbank location Don met Katherine (Kay) Lane, a secretary at the studio, and they were married. Don worked at the studio for 52 years only taking a break to join the Merchant Marines when World War II broke out. He and the other Disney animators lived by the adage, "He who dies with the most toys wins!" Each animator's office was usually littered with multiple toys which were played with often during the day. When Walt Disney opened Cal Arts Don taught drawing classes there in the school's first few years. He retired from Disney Studio after 52 years and passed away only a few years after his retirement on February 9, 1987. He and Kay had one daughter, Dolores. Kay died on September 30, 2005.