Donald Wakeman Foster, 69 of Wilmington, DE, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 5, 2024 at home with his wife, Shelley and daughter, Lindsay at his bedside following long and courageous battles with Alzheimer’s Disease and Leukemia.
Don was born in 1954 in Wilmington to parents Ralph and Shirley Foster. He attended Wilmington Friends School where he excelled as a three-sport athlete (lettering in baseball, basketball and captaining the football team). He went on to play basketball and golf at Princeton University where he earned a prestigious white sweater for captaining the 1976 Ivy League Champion golf team. Don was undefeated at #1 and carded a hole-in-one at the NCAA Golf Championship. He remained a highly competitive, low single-digit handicap golfer at the Wilmington Country Club after his collegiate career.
Although earning his Princeton degree in Engineering, Don enjoyed a prolific career in the insurance industry. In addition to being a loving, supportive, and exceptionally caring husband and father, Don thoroughly valued his time spent at the Wilmington Country Club on the golf course, and squash and paddle courts with his friends. Notably he won the Men’s Club Championship at the WCC in 1984 and 1985 as well as the National Golf Links of America Singles Invitational in Southampton, NY in 1981.
Don was predeceased by his father, Ralph Foster, stepfather Lewis Bancroft, and mother, Shirley Simonton Foster Bancroft. He is survived and will be greatly missed by his loving wife Shelley, beloved daughter Lindsay, four sisters, three brothers, two nieces and seven nephews.
Our family sends special thanks to all extended relatives and friends who have been so supportive during this very difficult time. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 11:00 AM at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church located at 101 Old Kennett Road, Wilmington, DE 19807. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in memory of Donald W. Foster to: Wilmington Friends School Endowment Fund (101 School Road, Wilmington, DE 19803; www.wilmingtonfriends.org) or the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org).
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