Hillsdale College mourns the loss of its Chairman Emeritus, Donald Mossey. Don was a friend, student, and governor of the College from his first appearance on the campus in 1946 until his passing on May 22, 2010.

Don was born and raised in Elkhart, Indiana, where he attended Elkhart High School. He matriculated to Hillsdale College in January of 1947 after completing service in the United States Navy during WWII. He served aboard the USS Rowan DD782, a destroyer deployed in the Pacific theater.

At Hillsdale, Don was a leader on the football team, in the Omicron Delta Kappa National Honorary Society, and as president of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. He swept floors and washed dishes in the old dining hall to get enough money to study. He was a running guard on the football team, dashing and strong on the field as on the campus. He met and courted the lovely cheerleader Jane Hill, whom he would marry in August 1953, and who would be his cherished wife for the next 56 years.

A proud and loyal son of Elkhart, he returned there upon his graduation from Hillsdale College in 1951 to work as a commissioned salesman at Elkhart Richardson Homes, the first step in a remarkable career as an entrepreneur and civic leader. In 1957, he co-founded Homette Corporation, a manufacturer of mobile homes and RVs. Upon Homette’s merger with Skyline Corporation (a New York Stock Exchange Company), he was named Executive Vice President of Skyline and appointed to its Board of Directors. In 1965 he became President and Chairman of Ventline, Inc., a manufacturer of metal products, a company he sold to Fortune 500 company Philips Industries, the board of which Don joined. Over the next 40 years he served as chairman of numerous companies including Custom Wood Products of Roanoke, Virginia, and Leland Engineering of White Pigeon, Michigan.

Don was a lifelong member of the Brethren Church and a founding member of the Winding Waters Brethren Church. He served on the board of Brethren-affiliated Ashland University, and its Seminary Committee, for 40 years.

Don helped establish Elkhart as a wellspring of entrepreneurial activity. He provided counsel, encouragement, and backing to countless executives and community leaders. An astute judge of character, he made his friends carefully and kept them long. For him, Elkhart was a barometer for the nation. With uncanny accuracy, he predicted our national recessions and recoveries, and he judged our national mood, by the friends with whom he worked in his home town.

These characteristics were evident in his efforts on behalf of Hillsdale College, where he had served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1966 until his passing. In 1975, he became Chairman, a position in which he served for the next 28 years, the longest chairmanship in Hillsdale history. During his tenure, the College gained financial strength and established a national reputation for independence, academic excellence and commitment to the principles of liberty. Highlights of his service abound on the Hillsdale campus, none more so than the Michael Alex Mossey Learning Resources Center, which Dr. and Mrs. Mossey provided to the College in memory of their son Michael, who died in a tragic accident in 1966.

Don is remembered by us at Hillsdale as a man of firm conviction, ready humor, and a toughness that was always kind. He spoke as he thought, in common sense, direct, and earthy terms. On building two new buildings on the Hillsdale front quad: "Why do you want to go messing up the front yard?" On staff members who work too many hours: "You boys ride those midnight planes, and stay up half the night, and drive too fast to appointments. You're going to be dead, and then where the hell will we be?" On the football team (especially dear to him): "For a bunch of smart boys, that was a mighty dumb play."

And on the College: "This is the seat of freedom, and we have the privilege of making sure it stays that way." This saying, like so many of his best, was said with a crack in his voice and a tear in his eye. Few can remember Don angry; many remember him crying.

Don loved his country, fought for it, and held its principles dear. He loved his God with all heart. His family was his touchstone, and he is survived and mourned by those most dear to him, his wife, Jane '52, three children, Merrill '79, Mark '81, and Melanie '84, their spouses Dennis (McCarthy) '76, Charlie (Warren), Kathy (Mossey), and six grandchildren, Patrick '05, Chelsea, Sean, Christopher, Eric, and Alex. The College extends to them its heartfelt sympathy and shares their grief.